


Friends with Benefits

by project_ecto



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Captains as Professors, Drama & Romance, Espadas as students from another school, F/M, Fluff, Friends With Benefits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2018-09-01 07:54:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 45,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8615839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/project_ecto/pseuds/project_ecto
Summary: After experiencing failed relationships, college students and best friends, Hitsugaya Toushirou and Hinamori Momo concluded that it was time to enjoy singlehood. As far as college students at their sexual peak go, Hitsugaya and Hinamori need someone to satisfy their libido, so why not each other? But can they pursue a purely sexual relationship without love getting in the way?





	1. A New Relation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello...yes, it's me. This story has actually been sitting in my laptop for a loooong time (3 years if you really want to know). And it's still not done, it's only half-completed. I've always liked the Friends with Benefits trope but I haven't got the time/commitment to actually finish writing this story.
> 
> Nevertheless, I thought there wasn't a point in letting this sit in my computer. Might as well just share it with anyone who's still into HitsuHina right? I also decided to post this because I received a review on my other fics, A Love of Fire and Ice and Lips Like These, from a guest requesting for me to come back to the HitsuHina fandom. If there are still people who love HitsuHina like I do, I really want to share my works with you all. Please enjoy.

"I don't think this is going to work out."

"Excuse me?"

"Uhh…I don't think—"

"I heard you the first time. Are you—are you breaking up with me?"

"…Yes?"

Hitsugaya Toushirou would have said that with much more conviction if it weren't for that crazy look in her eyes.

"I don't believe this," she gasped out. "But why? Aren't we doing really well?"

She had adopted her 'innocent girl' voice and there was that familiar glint of hurt in her eyes that he knew she was obviously faking.

Great, he thought, another thing to add to the list of reasons why he wanted, no _needed_ , to break up with her. Her behaviors alternated between possessive and clingy and downright sickeningly sweet. There was no in between and it freaked him out.

"No, we definitely were not," was his blunt reply.

"No way, you are not doing this to me. Not now, not here in the middle of a sidewalk!"

"I think I just did…"

"Hitsugaya Toushirou, you better take a good look at this," she exclaimed while gesturing to her body. "Because you're never going to get this again!"

Yup, there goes the innocent look she was previously faking.

The white-haired student flinched inwardly. She was really mad now and he was hoping this could have gone more smoothly. Her shouting was catching the attention of random passers-by and he could really do without the glances and stares. Hitsugaya presumed he could divert the attention away from them if he placated her.

"Look, it's not you, it's—"

"Don't give me that 'it's not you, it's me' crap! We both know that's bullshit and you are going to regret this!"

Hitsugaya watched silently as she spun on her heel, flipping her light brown hair in his direction and stalked away, her hips swaying from side to side.

Well it was worth a shot.

* * *

"You're boring."

"Wh-what?"

"Well, you wanted the truth…so there it is. You're boring."

The brown-eyed girl could only hang her mouth open in shock. That was his reason? That she was boring? He wanted to break up with her because she was _boring_? How the hell was she boring, she desperately wanted to know!

"Don't get me wrong, you're a nice person," he continued awkwardly. "It's just that…it can be quite _mundane_ hanging out with you and that's just a deal-breaker you know. I mean, it'd be better if you could—"

"That's enough…just— please stop talking."

An awkward silence hung above them as Hinamori tried to register what was happening while he fidgeted. He really wanted to get out of here.

"So uhh…we're good right? No hard feelings?"

Hinamori swallowed thickly before answering, "Yeah."

What a dimwitted jerk. How could they possibly be _good_ after he told her she was boring and still had the nerve to assume they're just going to be okay?

"Great! That's such a relief because I was dragging it out and—"

"Can you just go?"

"Right. Yeah. Okay, bye."

And with that, he took off, leaving Hinamori to stand alone under the dim streetlights trying to get over the initial shock of being dumped so suddenly and ridiculously.

She took a deep breath and composed herself after a few moments. She felt herself getting less morose and more furious. That guy was kind of an asshole anyway so it wasn't her loss. She was just angry at the fact that she thought this relationship was different from the others and that things were actually getting serious. It made her completely irritated when she thought about how wrong she was.

Whipping out her phone, Hinamori clicked on the 'contacts' icon and scrolled down to his name. With an air of certainty, she pressed 'delete' and watched triumphantly as his name was erased from her list. She could really use someone to talk to right now, or a drink. Or maybe both. Hinamori glanced down at her cellphone to find that her best friend's name, Hitsugaya Toushirou ('Shirou-chan' in her list), had replaced her now ex-boyfriend's name.

Without a second thought, she selected his name and pressed the call button.

* * *

It was a good thing Karakura Town was small; it made meeting up a whole lot easier. Hitsugaya and Hinamori decided to meet in their favorite bar, Urahara's, after the latter called to say that a couple of drinks would do her good. Hitsugaya agreed without a moment's hesitation, thinking that he could use a few drinks as well.

Well into the night and a few shots of tequila later, Hinamori was spilling out details of the break-up and Hitsugaya was being made by said girl to spill out his side of the story after she found out he had broken up with his girlfriend not long ago.

"I mean, can you believe him?!" she practically shouted. "He said I was boring! _Boring_!"

Hinamori downed the contents of her shot glass and slammed it on the counter top. "Tell me 'Shirou, how am I boring?!"

"You're not boring," Hitsugaya answered with a slight slur. "I've known you all my life and I've never gotten tired of hanging out with you."

Hinamori stared at him with widened eyes. "Really?"

"Yes. I don't know why you have this incredulous look on your face because you should know you're not boring. Why the hell did you even date that guy anyway?"

To be honest, Hitsugaya had been wondering about that ever since she started a relationship with him. He had heard stories about that guy; like how he could be scheming, selfish and probably—no, definitely perverted. Hitsugaya usually didn't bother himself with trivial matters like rumors but it was different this time because, well…it was _Hinamori_.

"Ahh…I don't know. I thought this was different somehow," she replied, staring forlornly at her empty glass. "He was pretty nice at first, all gentlemanly and stuff. Then it went downhill from there. He's actually a real jerk."

"Yeah, he seemed like an asshole," Hitsugaya said bluntly and finished another shot of tequila.

"Anyway, what happened on your end? Why did you break up with Kitagawa? No wait, don't answer that. Why did you date her in the first place?"

"Don't know."

He did know actually. Firstly it was because she was hot. She had light brown wavy hair, nice skin, long legs and an ample bosom which was surprisingly the only thing about her that wasn't fake. Secondly, she seemed like a great candidate after he was sick of being single for a couple of months. Besides, she was all over him which made it easier to land a few dates. He knew she only dated him because he was handsome and one of the more popular guys in the college but since he was looking for a casual hook-up as well, he wondered 'why not'. But he wasn't going to tell Hinamori any of that. He hoped she was tactful enough not to question further.

"Well I'm glad you broke it off with her. She seems a little crazy to be honest."

A little was an understatement. Like all relationships, it was great at first. Then she got too possessive and clingy and soon, her general attitude became such a turn-off to Hitsugaya. To put it shortly, it was suffocating to be with her. He could not be more relieved that he ended things between them.

"Here's to single life then!" Hinamori declared and raised her glass. "Urahara-san! Give me your best beer!"

"Ah…Hinamori-san, I think you've had enough," the man replied and flashed her a worried smile. It concerned and amused him at the same time whenever he encountered a drunk Hinamori. She was usually so reserved that it took him by surprise to find out that she got so hyperactive whenever she had one drink too many. He glanced over at Hitsugaya and was thankful to see that he was the more sober one, albeit still a little intoxicated. Hinamori on the other hand, was properly inebriated.

"Are you joking?! I was dumped! Dumped! I need your best beer stat!"

Urahara sighed and gave in, filling up a tall glass of German beer in front of her.

"Last one," he said and left them alone to drown their sorrows although it was mainly just Hinamori.

Without any sort of forewarning, the brown-haired girl chugged the glass of beer, catching Hitsugaya by surprise.

The glass was almost half empty before Hitsugaya reached out to snatch the glass from her hands. "Woah, that's enough."

"What! I'm not done, 'Shirou!"

"Yes you are."

"Don't deny me from drowning my sorrows!"

Hinamori reached over to try and reclaim her glass of beer but Hitsugaya slid it away from her in time. Her fingers missed the handle by a few inches. He didn't want her destroying her liver and being all mopey over some stupid guy.

"You don't need to do that. Look, to hell with that guy. He's an ass who doesn't know what he missed and you can do so much better than that."

"…You think so?"

Her voice had finally dropped to a normal speaking level and there was mild surprise in her features. Hitsugaya blamed it on the alcohol for making him blurt out such cheesy words.

"Yeah."

In a matter of seconds, the bar seemed to get smaller, the voices around them were drowning out and it was getting hot under the collar. Hitsugaya didn't know when the distance between him and his companion shrunk; all he was certain about was the lure of her russet eyes and the pull of tequila-laced breaths that escaped her reddened lips.

He also blamed it on the alcohol when he moved in to meet her mouth with his.

* * *

How they managed to arrive in Hitsugaya's apartment in their intoxicated state was beyond them.

The only thing they cared about now was how fast they could shuck off their clothing and make their way to Hitsugaya's bedroom without falling or knocking into furniture.

Their hands fumbled with buttons and buckles as Hitsugaya led them into his room. Using his leg, he slammed the door behind him in one swift motion while his hands maintained a tight grip on the nape of her neck. Walking backwards proved to be quite a challenge for Hinamori who was already dizzy with so much alcohol in her system. The fact that Hitsugaya's tongue was in her mouth didn't do much to help ease her disoriented state.

The moment the backs of her knees hit the edge of the bed, she fell on top of the soft sheets unceremoniously, pulling Hitsugaya down as well. As he straddled her, Hinamori reached up with only one thing in mind: fewer clothes. It was way too hot and there were way too many clothes between them. Her hands clumsily loosened his belt and unzipped his jeans while Hitsugaya pulled his shirt over his head. Before his shirt hit the ground, he surged forward and pinned Hinamori to the bed. His hands expertly worked on her blouse as he trailed hungry kisses from the corner of her mouth to her jaw and along the column of her neck, which will definitely leave angry red marks the next morning.

He pulled back only to slide his arm under Hinamori to push her further up the bed. Her legs instinctively wrapped themselves around his waist as her hands went up to card through his white hair. Hitsugaya wasted no time in planting hot kisses anywhere he could reach. He could feel the sharp rise of her chest as she breathed and the pants that escaped her lips left him more aroused than ever. Hinamori tightened her legs around his waist, bringing their bodies closer and arched her neck to give him more access. She wasn't the only one who was hot and bothered.

"Wh-What are we doing?" she breathed out headily, her voice leaden with arousal.

"Who the hell cares."

**To Be Continued**

_**Next Chapter: The Aftermath** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a disclaimer that this was written 3 years ago...so please forgive any lame writing lol.
> 
> Anyway, I'd still love to hear from you! Tell me what you think of this. It's actually quite difficult to write this sort of story while keeping the characters in character (especially for Hinamori) but I really love the FWB verse and wanted to try it out with my OTP, heh. Okay, till next time!


	2. The Aftermath

Hitsugaya wakes up with a pounding headache. The room is too bright and his temples are throbbing.

Fucking hangovers.

Did he really drink that much last night? Why was he drinking anyway? Whatever, he was still way too exhausted to delve into that matter. What he wanted now was more sleep.

He shifted in his sheets to curl into a more comfortable position but was met with _something_ restricting his movement. There was a heavy weight on his chest and he twitched when it tickled his shoulder. It was soft and his fingers made contact with something smooth; there was also…hair?

Shit, he didn’t remember bringing home anyone last night. His senses have yet to fully awaken so he decided to ignore the figure next to him. After all, it wasn’t his first time bringing home a random stranger (although, mind you, he didn’t do that frequently). Besides, he kind of welcomed the warmth that she was emitting, whoever she was. There was a calming effect radiating from her presence. As he allowed himself to be lulled back to sleep, the unknown figure shifted slightly. She snuggled closer to his chest and tightened her hold on him, mumbling incoherently.

The moment her sleep-leaden voice reached his ears, Hitsugaya’s senses seemed to be reeled back into motion. Seriously, he did not remember picking up a random chick last night. And didn’t he just break up with his girlfriend yesterday? At this point, the white-haired young man was genuinely curious as to who was sleeping in his bed with him.

He cracked open an eye and squinted as his vision grew accustomed to the light. Just as he looked down at the expanse of dark hair on his pillow, the figure tilted her head sleepily to stare at him in confusion, her brown eyes still half-closed.

They blinked once. Twice.

There was a pregnant pause as the both of them stared at each other intently, trying to determine who they had mysteriously woken up next to. When they finally recognized each other’s faces and it registered to them that they had in fact woken up next to their best friend completely naked, their shouts echoed throughout the whole room as they scrambled hastily away from each other.

“What the hell?!”

“What are you doing in my room?!”

Their words tumbled over each other’s and there was another awkward pause between them, neither of them knowing how to react to this situation, let alone answer any pressing questions.

Hitsugaya tried his hardest to avert his gaze away from her exposed skin as she desperately tried to cover herself up.

“Wait,” he started. “This is my room.”

Hinamori snapped her head up and looked around, shock written over her features.

“Oh my god,” she whispered as it dawned upon her that she had woken up naked in her _best friend’s_ apartment. “Oh my god…”

She gathered his sheets up to herself and tried to put as much distance between them as possible, a mad blush spreading across her cheeks. Hinamori seemed incapable of any sort of articulation as she simply opened and closed her mouth in shock and horror. Hitsugaya had no idea how to ease the tension between them. They did just wake up next to their best friend after a night of intimacy after all. How was anyone supposed to react to that? The fact that Hinamori was clutching his sheets to her chest yet they still exposed a little of her cleavage definitely did not help to calm his rampant hormones.

“Oh no, what time is it?!”

Her sudden exclamation brought him back to reality and he peeked over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the clock on his nightstand.

“It’s uhh…7:40.”

“Crap! I’m going to be late!”

Hinamori ran a hand through her hair and looked around frantically, hoping to find her clothes on her side of the bed. Tough luck. She caught sight of her underwear and pants but her blouse and bra were strewn on the other side.

She picked them up gingerly and without looking at Hitsugaya, pointed to his side and said in a low voice, “Um…my clothes are over there. Could you get them…?”

“Oh right. Sure.”

“Thanks,” she replied awkwardly and retrieved her clothes from him. She hurriedly put on her clothes in record time, hoping to God that he wasn’t watching her. Hinamori leaped up from the bed the moment she was decently clothed and faced Hitsugaya although she still couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye.

“Um, I have to get going now. I’ll…see you later, I guess…”

“Ah…yeah.”

Hinamori certainly did not take her own sweet time exiting the room and picking up her belongings and shoes in the living room before closing the door behind her. As soon as Hitsugaya heard the door slam shut, he fell back onto his sheets and brought his hands up to cover his face. In his entire life, he has never felt so lost and helpless before. What the hell was he thinking?! How could he sleep with his best friend? After they had both broken up with their respective partners no less. This was Hinamori and he would never forgive himself if he had hurt her in any way. What made it worse was that he knew he was more sober than her.

But then again…last night was amazing. He couldn’t deny that. If there was anything he remembered from last night’s escapade, it was how mind-blowing the sex was. She was all smooth skin and tender flesh and god, the things she could do with her tongue. On one hand, Hitsugaya felt absolutely guilty for allowing last night to happen but on the other, he couldn’t deny that he had enjoyed it. Shit, now he felt conflicted. Just great; another thing to add to the turmoil of emotions raging within him.

He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up further. How was he going to face her now? What could he possible say? Moreover, there was no way he could avoid the matter completely; they had to confront each other sooner or later. As Hitsugaya was consumed by his guilt-tripping thoughts, he was relieved that at least he didn’t have any 8 o’clock lessons.

* * *

“So what happened? You’re never late for classes!” Hinamori’s friend and confidante, Matsumoto Rangiku asked.

“I, uh…I overslept,” Hinamori replied hesitantly.

“What did you do last night that got you so exhausted?” Hinamori’s other friend who takes zero shit from anyone, Kuchiki Rukia, questioned.

Shit. Hinamori had to conjure a believable reason fast. Since she wasn’t that great a liar, she decided to stick with the truth. Not the whole truth of course.

“Nothing. It’s just…I got dumped last night.”

“What?!”

Hinamori flinched as her two friends practically shouted in her face.

“That Sato guy dumped you?!” Matsumoto exclaimed.

“That bastard had the nerve to break up with you?!” Rukia added heatedly.

“Ahh…”

Hinamori didn’t know how to react; she hadn’t expected her friends to harbor such hostility towards her ex-boyfriend. Now that she knew they didn’t actually like him from the start, it made her feel silly for dating him in the first place. At least she managed to conceal the whole truth from them.

“I am this close to giving him a piece of my mind,” Matsumoto started.

“No offense Hinamori, but he’s actually a sorry excuse for a boyfriend,” Rukia continued. “It’s a good thing now that you’re free from his clutches but if anyone had to initiate the break up, the prerogative would go to you.”

“Guys…” Hinamori pleaded. “It’s fine. I really don’t want to talk about it.”

Matsumoto and Rukia took her hint and to Hinamori’s relief, were tactful enough to drop the matter for now and divert their attention to other issues, like how they were planning to bring Hinamori out for a session of indulgence, rambling on about how she needed to pamper herself more.

Frankly speaking, the break-up was the least of her problems. She had more pressing matters at hand. Firstly, how was she supposed to talk to Hitsugaya about what happened? Every time she thought about it, a blush would color her cheeks mercilessly and her mind turns into goo. Secondly, she _couldn’t_ stop thinking about it. She couldn’t stop thinking about the how the bed sheets pooled around his waist when he sat up, or the huskiness of his morning voice, or the way his bed hair made him look so hot. Damn it, he was all kinds of gorgeous. It took a significant amount of willpower to tear her eyes away from his toned muscles and if her eyes didn’t betray her, she thought she saw fingernail marks along his chest that she was certain was her doing.

Ah shit. Now her mind had wondered to last night’s events which was surreal and that can’t even begin to accurately describe what she went through. All Hinamori could say was that she was still a little sore between the legs; and that she wouldn’t mind reliving it. In short, she liked it. No. No, wait, scratch that, how could she think that? Hitsugaya was her best friend, for crying out loud.

This was going to haunt her for the rest of the day.

* * *

Hitsugaya Toushirou arrived in his classroom on time which was surprising considering how much he dillydallied back at his apartment (he was distracted when he noticed Hinamori’s cardigan hanging loosely on his living room couch).

“You look like shit,” was the first thing Abarai Renji said to Hitsugaya when he sat down behind the red-haired student. He didn’t exactly look like shit; that was Renji’s way of saying he looked different and maybe a little tired and stressed out.

Hitsugaya shot him a scowl and was spared of explaining his situation when Ukitake-sensei walked into the classroom. They were still on the Calculus module which Hitsugaya already had a good grasp of so it didn’t really matter that he wasn’t paying attention in class. The only thing occupying his mind was Hinamori kissing him senseless, Hinamori raking her nails over his body and Hinamori wrapped up in his sheets. He knew he wasn’t supposed to think about his best friend like that but she was really making this difficult for him. Truthfully, the only thing stopping him from wanting more of last night was the likelihood of destroying their friendship and he wanted no part in that.

He needs to stop thinking about it or he’s going to get a boner in the middle of class. God damn his raging libido.

* * *

The rest of the school day proved to be a trying time for the two college first-years. But try as they might, there was no avoiding the confrontation.

Hinamori was already sitting at their usual spot on the bleachers when Hitsugaya walked up to join her. This was where they typically waited for each other to finish their classes before heading home together.  They only lived a couple of blocks away from each other and most of the time, Hinamori would go over to Hitsugaya’s place to study.

“Hey. Sorry, Komamura was dragging the class,” Hitsugaya explained and sat beside Hinamori, subconsciously putting more distance between them than necessary.

“It’s okay.”

No one said anything for a few moments and Hitsugaya, unable to deal with the awkward silences, spoke up, “I guess we have to talk about it.”

“Yeah…”

Hinamori wanted to hit herself for being this inarticulate; there were so many things she needed to say but she didn’t know how to go about saying it.

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened,” Hitsugaya started. “I’m sorry if I hurt you and—”

“No!” Hinamori exclaimed before looking down sheepishly. “You didn’t hurt me. And I’m sorry too. I mean, I was the one who asked you out to a bar in the first place.”

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t get me drunk.”

“I guess we both kind of messed up, huh.”

“Yeah but I didn’t regret it.”

Shit. He just had to say what he was thinking.

“…What?”

If there was anything that worsened his mortification at this point, it was Hinamori’s incredulous voice.

“I mean…uhh…it was—it wasn’t bad,” he finished lamely.

He expected Hinamori to scream ‘pervert!’ at him or hit him and run away forever or something so when he heard a soft giggle, he thought his ears were playing tricks on him.

“Really?” she asked.

“What?” It was his turn to be dumbfounded.

“It wasn’t bad?”

“Well yeah, it was…good actually.” Oh god, now he was blushing.

“So you liked it?”

“Yeah. Yeah I did.” There was no turning back now. He might as well just say what’s on his mind truthfully.

 “Me too.”

Hitsugaya almost fell off the bleachers when he heard those words. He never imagined Hinamori would voice that out. She herself didn’t know where that frankness came from; the words just spilled out of her mouth.

Another round of silence elapsed between them before Hitsugaya threw caution into the wind and let his impulsiveness take over.

“It doesn’t have to end.”

He dared a glance at Hinamori who looked at him with curious eyes, urging him to continue.

“We could still…you know,” he said, hoping she’ll get his point.

“You mean like friends with benefits?” she offered.

“Yeah.” Finding himself unable to contribute to the conversation, Hitsugaya swallowed thickly and looked up in an effort to avoid any eye contact. As the silence dragged on, he started to contemplate on digging a hole in the ground and—

“Okay.”

His head turned so fast it was a miracle he didn’t snap his neck. “What? Are you serious?”

Hinamori nodded in reply. “I mean, I’m tired of relationships and commitment. They haven’t been working out for me if you’ve noticed.”

“I could say the same thing.” Was this really happening? Did he actually manage to get his best friend to sleep with him on a regular basis to satisfy his libido?

“It won’t spoil our friendship if we don’t let it,” Hinamori piped up. “We can set some ground rules.”

“Ground rules?”

“Uh huh. Like…no cuddling! Because it breeds emotional attachment.”

“Okay. And this doesn’t have to be permanent. If either of us starts dating, we can call it off anytime.”

“Sounds reasonable. Besides, it’s not like we’ll fall for each other. We’ll still be best friends right?”

“Right.”

“…”

“…”

“So what do you say?” Hitsugaya asked tentatively.

“Let’s do it.”

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: Testing the Waters_ **


	3. Testing the Waters

Hinamori’s eyes were glued to Hitsugaya’s body as he pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it onto the floor. She allowed herself to quickly check out his abs and chest before meeting his teal eyes and remembering what she was supposed to do. Blushing, the brown-eyed girl unbuttoned her top and discarded it on his living room floor.

Now they were both topless. In tandem, Hitsugaya and Hinamori slid their pants down their legs and threw them into the pile of discarded clothing. Neither of them took notice of the silence as they both stared at each other in hesitation and anticipation.

Hitsugaya’s attention was first caught by her matching underwear; she had on blue-striped bra and panties and his gaze inadvertently lingered on her cleavage. Hinamori wasn’t voluptuous but she had a modest set of breasts that Hitsugaya didn’t know he was attracted to, until now. And he couldn’t miss the softness of her skin; it made him think about how it would feel under his touch now that he was sober. His eyes travelled down to her flat stomach and toned legs and he was reminded of how she used to be a dancer in high school. He wondered how lithe and nimble her body could be and shit—he can’t get hard now. Not when they haven’t even started doing anything.

Hinamori would be feeling extremely self-conscious about Hitsugaya checking her body out if she wasn’t so busy doing the same thing to him. God, those muscles; she could stare at them forever. No shame in that. Hinamori could hardly believe she was in such a situation. Her best friend was hot and she gets to hit _that_ with no strings attached? She must have done something right in her previous life. Hitsugaya’s voice brought her out of her reverie.

“We have to…”

“Oh right.”

They stepped towards each other and met in the middle, trying not to think about how awkward and silly it was to be standing in Hitsugaya’s living room donned in only their underwear. They were encroaching into each other’s personal space and Hinamori could feel the blush spreading across her cheeks. She looked up slowly and was met with teal-colored eyes that hid a hint of raw desire. It was unclear as to who kissed who first but that was completely ignored the moment their lips touched. They moved hesitantly against each other’s lips; both of them still beginning to wrap their heads around experiencing such intimate contact with their best friends yet eager to explore.

Hinamori decided not to put too much thought into it and simply let her body do the work. She tilted her head which allowed Hitsugaya to catch her bottom lip between his mouth. He sucked gently on her lip before pulling away and was mildly surprised to find her following his lips. His slight smirk was soon wiped off his face when Hinamori pressed her lips to his with more force than he expected. She kissed him insistently and it was in this moment that Hitsugaya knew Hinamori was a passionate kisser. When it occurred to him that this was _really_ happening, he realized there was too little physical contact between them and set out to change that.

Hitsugaya raised his arm to settle his palm over her nape, bringing her closer and deepening the kiss while his free hand rested on her hip. All inhibitions aside, Hinamori allowed herself to be pulled closer and peeked out her tongue to touch his lips. As she wrapped her arms around his sturdy frame, Hitsugaya complied and parted his lips for her. Their hearts raced as they felt the velvet slide of tongue against tongue. To be making out with her best friend in a completely controllable state of mind caused Hinamori to pull back a little too quickly, suddenly hyperaware of every touch between them. But any form of doubt was erased by the look of pure arousal in her dark eyes.

“Bedroom?” Hitsugaya simply asked, his breath slightly ragged.

“Yeah.”

* * *

Hinamori Momo woke up to the dull beep of the alarm clock. She sleepily felt her way around the nightstand and pressed the snooze button to shut it up. She rolled over and rubbed her eyes to chase away the last vestiges of sleep. Without looking, the brown-eyed girl reached over to tap her companion on the shoulder, seemingly attuned to the fact that she spent the night with her best friend (on their respective sides of the bed of course) like it was no different from any other day.

“Hey, get up. We have to get to school,” she said a little blearily.

Hitsugaya only grunted in reply. He was awake but decided to enjoy being curled up comfortably in his sheets for a while more. Hinamori on the other hand, was already sitting up and searching for her clothes on the floor. Unbeknownst to him, she had a bit of trouble moving around. She was definitely still sore from last night.

Speaking of which…last night was intense.

But before she could dwell on what happened, Hitsugaya sat up and stretched, cricking his neck as he did so. “You okay?” he asked after seeing Hinamori flinch while putting on her pants.

“I’m fine!” she replied hastily and gave him a nervous smile. “I’ll make a move first okay? It’s Wednesday and I have to meet Rukia and Rangiku for breakfast.”

“Sure. See you in school.”

“Yup. Oh, and don’t take your time, you have Kurotsuchi-sensei’s lesson in the first period right? See you later Hitsugaya-kun!”

Hitsugaya frowned; she didn’t have to remind him.

* * *

Wednesdays were days when Hinamori, Rukia and Matsumoto had the same first period class which started only at 10am so they marked this day down as ‘breakfast day’. Today, they were seated in a booth of a Western breakfast place that had just recently opened a few streets down Seireitei College at Rukia’s suggestion.

Hinamori was busy chowing down on some waffles, Matsumoto had a short stack of pancakes and Rukia ordered an American breakfast, complete with hash brown and strips of bacon. While Hinamori devoured her breakfast, her friends chatted about some TA whose name she didn’t catch. All of a sudden, Matsumoto’s fork clattered onto the table and she stared at Hinamori with wide eyes.

“Is that a _hickey_?” she hissed out.

“Huh! It is!” Rukia confirmed as she examined the bruise on her friend’s neck before she hastily covered it with her palm. Damn, looks like Hinamori was wrong about assuming her denim outerwear would conceal any bites.

“It’s not!” she denied anxiously.

“We’re not idiots Hinamori. I know a hickey when I see one and that is definitely one,” Matsumoto stated. “Looks like someone got lucky last night.”

“Wait a minute,” Rukia interrupted, mind working at full speed. “I thought you and Sato broke up on Sunday?”

Hinamori was beginning to feel extremely uncomfortable under the intense gaze of her friends. “Uh, yes…?”

“Then who—weren’t you at Hitsugaya’s place last night? Wasn’t that why you couldn’t join us for Hana Kimi re-runs?” Matsumoto questioned.

Hinamori felt herself unable to look at her friends anymore. She lowered her head agonizingly slow and couldn’t even be bothered to try to defend herself. She’ll just let them figure it out on their own…

“Oh. My. God.”

There it is.

“You _slept_ with Hitsugaya?!”

“Keep your voice down!” Hinamori warned.

“Wha—how? _Why_?”

With the looks that Rukia and Matsumoto were giving her, Hinamori found no way out of this situation. She had to tell them and here she thought she was able to keep it a secret for at least a couple more weeks. Sighing, she started from the beginning.

* * *

It was rather late in the afternoon yet Hitsugaya was still in the classroom completing some last minute work that Kuchiki-sensei assigned so he didn’t have to bring it home. After finishing his last sentence, he dropped the pen on the table and looked up.

“What is it Matsumoto?”

“Not rushing off to anywhere in particular are you?” she asked, making her way towards him and plopping herself on the chair in front of him.

He gave her a questioning glance. “No. Why would I be?”

“Oh I don’t know,” she replied, her voice dripping with fake ignorance. “Maybe you got some _night plans_ with someone?”

“If you have something to say, spit it out.”

“I know you’re sleeping with Hinamori!” she burst out.

Hitsugaya blinked at her and then sighed in resignation. “Hinamori told you? That was quick.”

“Well we found out first. I noticed the hickey on her neck and since she broke up with Sato and was spending the night at your place, we put two and two together and made her spill the rest,” Matsumoto explained. “Sheesh Captain, I didn’t know you bite that hard.”

(Ah, that nickname. It all started in high school when Hitsugaya was the captain of the ice hockey team and Matsumoto, after realizing it was compulsory to join a club, created the position of ‘secretary of the ice hockey team’ and applied for it. It was miraculously validated and thus she became the official secretary of the ice hockey team, did nothing and has called Hitsugaya ‘captain’ ever since.)

The younger boy scowled at her and Matsumoto didn’t miss the light blush on his cheeks. He was embarrassed; how cute. But she decided to leave the teasing to another time.

“Besides,” she continued. “Hinamori was walking with a limp in case you didn’t notice. We would have figured it out sooner or later.”

“I was counting on later.”

“Look, I don’t care what kind of _arrangement_ you two have but you better not hurt her,” Matsumoto warned.

Hitsugaya was a little surprised to hear her use her serious voice. Obviously he wasn’t going to hurt her.

“I won’t.”

“Okay then. Have fun while you’re at it. But not tonight, Hinamori will be at my place.”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her retreating back as she muttered something about ‘youths these days’ which was ridiculous because she was only two years older than him.

So…she was walking with a limp huh.

* * *

Apparently, someone up there made it so that secrets were not meant to be kept among this group of friends because that night, the guys found out about Hitsugaya’s and Hinamori’s deal much to the former’s chagrin.

“Hey Toushirou, I heard you broke up with Kitagawa,” Kurosaki Ichigo said casually.

“Yeah, so?” Hitsugaya answered, taking another sip of his beer.

They were at Urahara’s bar because Renji still owed Urahara a few favors and he decided to drag Ichigo and Hitsugaya with him. He thought he’d been spending way too much time in bars and he would have picked a better place if Renji didn’t have to pull them with him. And the guy was nowhere to be seen.

“Nothing,” Ichigo replied. “How’d she take the break up?”

Hitsugaya frowned at the memory. “Not well.”

“As expected. She’s—”

“Ohh! Hitsugaya Toushirou!” came a loud, booming voice. “I saw you on Sunday night kissing some cute chick!”

The white-haired student snapped his head in the direction of the annoying voice to see that it belonged to Marechiyo Omaeda, a fellow schoolmate who only secured a place in the college with his family’s wealth. Hitsugaya shot him a threatening glare but he seemed too drunk to notice. Omaeda lumbered over to Hitsugaya and Ichigo and leaned against the counter top.

“She seemed familiar!” God, his voice was blaring in their ears. “She from our school? Think I’ve seen ‘er around b’fore. But yeah, you were full on making out with ‘er! Got some action that night?”

If looks could kill, Omaeda would be dead.

“Woah woah woah,” Ichigo cut in. “You were making out with someone on the night you broke up with Kitagawa? Or did you get back together with her –”

“Nah! It wasn’t that Kitagawa chick! Was some girl with dark hair…brown eyes. Think ‘er name was ‘Hina’ something!”

Ichigo stared at Hitsugaya with widened eyes and mouth hanging open. “You were making out with _Momo_?!”

Hitsugaya would have reminded Ichigo that he wasn’t exactly very close to Hinamori to call her by her first name if he wasn’t too busy trying to keep the cat in the bag.

“Yeah!! That’s the name! She’s in our school right? So you see…you think maybe I could—”

“Shut up.”

Hitsugaya’s voice was cold as ice and he was already thinking of ways he could shut the man up forever. He continued staring daggers at Omaeda until he was retreating and finally left them alone.

“Holy shit, you made out with Hinamori right after you broke up with Kitagawa?” Renji suddenly said, appearing on the other side of the counter.

“What the hell. Since when did you—never mind. So is it true?”

Fuck, he expected himself to be able to keep their arrangement under wraps for much longer than…well, one day.

“Yeah,” Hitsugaya said, his tone indicating that he really did not want to discuss this any further.

“Well?” Renji urged. That guy could not take a hint, could he?

Fine, if he was going to tell them, he’ll make it as quick and succinct as possible. “I broke up with Kitagawa on the same night Hinamori was dumped. She called me for a few drinks and we must have gotten too drunk because I woke up next to her in the morning.”

“You even _slept_ with her?!”

“Then what happened?” Ichigo, the less dramatic one, asked.

“That’s it.”

“Yeah right. As if you guys didn’t talk about it after sleeping with your best friend.”

Damn, he’s sharp. Hitsugaya took a swig of his beer and sighed in irritation.

“We decided to carry on with the whole ‘sleeping together’ thing, but with no strings attached,” he replied with an air of finality.

A long moment of silence dragged between them before Renji burst out laughing. “You’re kidding. Hinamori would never—…holy shit, you’re not kidding.”

“Huh. I didn’t know you two, of all people, would go for the ‘friends with benefits’ status,” Ichigo said, masking his incredulity better than Renji.

“So how is it?” the red-haired man asked expectantly.

Hitsugaya and Ichigo gave him a look of distaste.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

* * *

“I can’t do this anymore!” Matsumoto Rangiku shouted. “I don’t get what Kuchiki-sensei means in his task requirements!”

“You’re still reading the task requirements?” Rukia asked. “Hinamori and I are already finishing up our introductions.”

“Says the one whose brother is the teacher of the class,” Matsumoto shot back.

“Hey, I don’t—”

“Guys, come on,” Hinamori pleaded. “Rangiku, he just means you have to use various case studies to support your points.”

“That sounds like I have to do research.”

“You do,” Rukia answered.

“Ah, who cares? We have more pressing matters at hand.”

“Like?” Hinamori asked and quirked her eyebrow.

“Like the whole ‘friends with benefits’ thing going on with you and Captain!”

“What! No!”

“Oh come on. Your hickey is sticking out like a sore thumb and it’s really hard to ignore. Spill!”

Hinamori looked over at Rukia to seek some sort of back-up but even she was giving her an eager expression. She was beginning to think Matsumoto called them over not for a study session but to talk about what’s going on with her and Hitsugaya. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t find a way to escape their urging. She was going to have to tell them whatever they wanted to know sooner or later. Might as well get it done and over with.

“What do you guys want to know?” she finally acquiesced.

“How is he in bed?” Rukia immediately asked.

Matsumoto and Hinamori were surprised at her eagerness to know and gave her a funny look.

“What? I’m curious!”

Hinamori sighed. “He’s…good I guess.”

“Just good?”

“Seriously?”

“Fine, he’s great okay! He’s really hot and it was the best sex I ever had and he made me sore!”

“Woah,” they both said at the same time.

Hinamori couldn’t hide the blush that rose to her cheeks. It was true though; he had made her sore. After riding out the first waves of pleasure, they went at it for a couple more times till they were both exhausted.

“He also bites,” she added softly.

“Yeah, we can tell.”

“He has to stop doing that. People are going to find out if you sport hickeys that obvious,” Matsumoto said.

“Right…I’ll tell him that.”

“Isn’t it weird? Having sex but staying friends?” Rukia probed.

“Ah…not really? We were fine this morning.”

“Is it really okay though? I mean, you know what they say about sex with no strings…it doesn’t always end well.”

“It’s not like anything’s going to happen. We’ll be fine,” Hinamori answered dismissively.

“If you say so,” Matsumoto responded.

If she was unconvinced, she didn’t show it.

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: Not Always a Bed of Roses_ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am changing the legal age to drink in Japan to 18 in this universe because I assumed it was the same as in my country when it is in fact 20. I am a loser. Just go with it okay.
> 
> Also, if you’re wondering why Matsumoto is two years older than Hitsugaya despite being in the same class, it’s because Hitsugaya skipped a year in middle school while Matsumoto was held back a year in high school.


	4. Not Always a Bed of Roses

“If the firm is experiencing negative externalities in production, a possible market-based policy to implement would be direct regulation of production. As for non market-based policies, I doubt moral suasion will be very effective but we could still include it for evaluation purposes. Hinamori, did you hear me?”

“Huh? Oh yeah! Umm…we could include tradable permits as a policy as well? Since the negative externalities refer to pollution in this case.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

Close call. As Hitsugaya wrote some notes down on the writing pad, Hinamori breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing she was able to give him an answer that wasn’t complete rubbish. It would have been really awkward if he asked her why she was spacing out because how was she supposed to tell him that she was thinking about his body?! Inapproriately.

Ahhh…this was not good! She cannot keep thinking about him like that; it’s making everything all weird. Ever since they started sleeping together, Hinamori’s mind would randomly wonder to his naked chest, those shoulders, that V in his hips and oh god, was she blushing? This wasn’t the first time it happened and she honestly didn’t know how she could face him with such indecent thoughts in her head.

Great, now her eyes were fixated on his biceps as he continued writing. Did she not have control over her body as well?! Up and up her gaze went, until she was unknowingly staring at his face and the suddenness of teal meeting brown caught her by surprise.

“Ah…! Umm, I have to go now! I have to…do something. I mean, meet Rangiku! Yeah, I have to meet her. You can email me my part of the assignment, sorry!”

As gracelessly as she handled that, Hinamori couldn’t care less as long as she managed to avoid being in the same room as him. She left in such a hurry that she didn’t catch the sigh of relief Hitsugaya breathed the moment she exited the classroom.

Hitsugaya felt himself relax (he hadn’t even realized he tensed up) after hearing her footsteps disappear down the corridors. That was close. He was afraid he’d get a hard on right then and there with Hinamori being so close to him and looking so damn…adorable. That, and his brain was thinking erotic thoughts about her. Not cool.

The whole time he was writing, he could feel Hinamori’s gaze on him and it wound him up all the more. He was surprised what he wrote even made any sense.

Having sex with no strings with Hinamori was great but he didn’t expect himself to keep thinking about it! Harboring thoughts about her naked body while they were working on an assignment together was so…wrong. It took him every ounce of his mental willpower to stay in control. If this carries on, it’ll definitely make their friendship awkward.

How troublesome.

* * *

“And then…! And then I started thinking about… _stuff_. You know, _that_ kind of stuff and I bet I was acting all weird! Ahh! It’s so embarrassing!”

Matsumoto Rangiku simply nodded as if she understood whatever her friend was rambling about. She had been at it for ten minutes now, just talking in circles about her awkward encounters with Hitsugaya. Yes, plural. It had been a few days since _that_ incident and Hitsugaya and Hinamori were no less awkward with each other than before. Every time they saw each other, they could only manage a simple wave and a short conversation at best. It had gotten so weird to be around each other to the point of avoidance. As expected, it was difficult to keep pretending that it was perfectly normal to have a ‘friends with benefits’ status with your best friend. There was just way too much unresolved sexual tension between them. Needless to say, it was creating a lot of frustration for the two.

The busty strawberry blonde already understood the situation at Hinamori’s first sentence but after seeing how flustered she was, she decided to let her rattle on about her predicament. If Rukia were here, she would’ve stopped Hinamori midway and smacked some of her weird logic into her. But she wasn’t, because she was on a date with Ichigo, and so the honor of providing advice to a friend in need fell to Matsumoto’s shoulders.

“What should I do?” Hinamori asked helplessly.

Ah, that was her cue.

“If you’re so stressed out over this, then just stop while you still can.”

“No!”

Matsumoto knew she would object to the idea but she hadn’t expected such vehemence.

“I mean…I don’t want to…”

“Why not? If it’s making your relationship with Captain so awkward, just go back to being friends who do not sleep with each other on a regular basis.”

“Because…”

“Because?”

This was going exactly how Matsumoto hoped it would.

“Because it’s the ideal arrangement!” Hinamori blurted. “I’ve had such bad luck with relationships and commitment and I’m tired of putting so much effort into relationships that won’t even work out. But…but I still have _needs_ okay, and Hitsugaya-kun is in a similar situation so he understands where I’m coming from. Besides, I wouldn’t want, or even dare to have this sort of arrangement with anybody else. The problem is that it’s making us act so weird around each other and I don’t want that…”

“Then the solution is easy!” Matsumoto declared.

“It is?”

“Yes, you already said it yourself. You don’t want things to be awkward with you and Captain right? So, just don’t let it be! It’s your choice how you want your friendship to turn out. You can either continue this charade and risk ruining your friendship or you can suck it up, act like the mature individual I know you are and probably, no wait, definitely have the best rounds of sex of your life.”

It took Hinamori a while to let that all sink in and she realized that this might just be Matsumoto’s best advice.

“You’re right…it doesn’t have to be this awkward. I don’t have to let it affect our friendship.”

“That’s right! You should go talk to him. I’m pretty sure Captain has some similar troubles as well. So Hinamori, what’s it going to be?”

Hinamori paused momentarily to collect her thoughts and replied firmly, “I’m going to fix this.”

* * *

Students poured out of the classroom as the last period ended until only Hitsugaya was left. He didn’t share this class with any of his friends so he took his time to pack up. Not long after, Hinamori’s petite frame appeared in the doorway.

“We need to talk.”

Hitsugaya halted and immediately felt uneasy. He always hated it when girls declared that they ‘needed to talk’. Most of the times, it didn’t bode well. But he supposed he should have seen this coming with their awkward encounters and what not.

“This can’t go on.”

Woah, he didn’t even have time to prepare himself. Strangely, Hitsugaya felt a sense of disappointment settling within him. This was what he was hoping against. He knew their friendship had hit an obstacle but he thought they could have worked—

“We can’t keep acting like we’re treading on thin ice with each other,” Hinamori declared.

“Wait, what?”

This wasn’t about calling off the whole friends with benefits arrangement?

“I know we’ve been avoiding each other because of all the awkwardness but it really doesn’t have to be that way! We decided to make this deal so we shouldn’t let it affect our friendship. I don’t want things to be weird between us Hitsugaya-kun…eh? What’s wrong?” she asked, after noticing Hitsugaya’s shocked expression.

“You—you aren’t calling it off?”

“Wha—of course not!” Hinamori exclaimed before a worried look rested upon her features. “Unless…you want to?”

“No that’s not it!” Hitsugaya hastily replied. “I mean, you have a point. I don’t want us to have to keep being so self-conscious around each other.”

Hitsugaya didn’t add that the other reason he wanted to hold on to their deal was that it satisfied his libido (he was a healthy and normal teenager who had needs okay). It was an unspoken confession that didn’t need to be explicitly declared for the both of them to know.

“Besides,” Hitsugaya added a little embarrassingly. “You’re…not bad. You know, in bed…I mean.”

He tore his gaze away from her and was immensely grateful for the afternoon sunlight that obscured his rising blush. He honestly didn’t know why he had to say that out loud.

“Ahh…” Hinamori responded incoherently. She felt herself grow hotter by the minute; after all, it was the first time someone said that to her and that was discounting the fact that it came from her best friend!

“Y-You too…and I’m not saying that out of obligation. You really are—!” she started but caught herself before she made this any worse. “Anyway! Since we’ve already decided to carry on, let’s shake on it!”

Hitsugaya knew that was Hinamori’s way of saying that they should pinky promise which she regarded as the highest form of promise. She held out her pinky and looked expectantly at Hitsugaya. Likewise, he held out his and hooked their pinkies together, bringing his thumb forward to stamp hers. It reminded him of their younger days when Hinamori would tell him that a pinky promise doesn’t count if they don’t stamp their thumbs. To think that they would be using this child-like method of promising for such a ‘mature’ deal.

Hitsugaya didn’t know if he should laugh or cringe at the irony of it all.

* * *

The white-haired youth was sitting at his study desk and typing away on his laptop. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he completed the last paragraph of his report. He was alone that night; it had been a couple of days since their confrontation but they hadn’t slept together yet (they weren’t animals, they could control themselves albeit it took a little more willpower sometimes). He was already saving his work when the doorbell rang once, then twice.

He took off his glasses and walked out to answer the door, wondering who it could be at this time of the night. The moment he opened the door, a familiar face barged in without preamble.

Hitsugaya was taken aback when Hinamori Momo let herself in and announced in frustration, “It’s so unfair!”

Hinamori had come to his apartment unannounced several times, most of the time complaining about something or seeking solace and advice from her trusty best friend but this was a first in a long time.

“What is?” he asked, closing the door after her.

She sat herself down on his couch and answered, “This!” while holding up her cellphone.

Hitsugaya couldn’t see a damn thing with the phone metres away from him so he stood before her and examined the screen. A list was shown and he wondered what the hell it was all about when he spotted Hinamori’s name. Oh, it was a grade list. His gaze followed the row and finally saw what was causing Hinamori to be so upset.

“D! I got a D on the assignment!” she complained.

“And why is that unfair?”

“Because I put in a lot of effort into it. I’ve never researched and cross-referenced so much in my entire life for an assignment before,” Hinamori replied sadly.

“Which module is that?”

“Principles of Economics.”

“Isn’t that Aizen’s class?”

“Yes. It’s precisely because it’s Aizen-sensei’s class that I spent so much time on the assignment…to think it only got me a D. How demoralising!”

Hitsugaya shared Aizen’s class with Hinamori; in fact, Ichigo, Matsumoto and everyone else were in Aizen’s class. However, the assignment was only handed out to half the class while the other half was given a test. They would switch the next semester. Hitsugaya was in the other half and needless to say, he scored a distinction on the test. He was an academic genius but that didn’t mean he couldn’t understand where Hinamori’s vexation.

“I was counting on this assignment to help pull up my overall grade. I’ve been scoring so badly for this module I’m afraid I might fail it,” she bemoaned. “And Aizen-sensei is such a good teacher I feel like I’m letting him down.”

Hitsugaya knew Hinamori was fond of Aizen and genuinely wanted to excel in his class. He had to admit, Aizen was a good teacher; he was precise and had unconventional teaching methods. Not to mention he was really handsome, kind and helpful which naturally got a lot of the female students to be smitten with him. But other than that, Hitsugaya thought he was okay and even a little creepy at times.

“Just study hard for the test next semester. I’ve done it already so I can tutor you. It should probably be around the same level of difficulty,” he offered.

“Thanks Hitsugaya-kun…” she said, her mood still a little dampened. “But it’s still quite a while to the next semester! Ahh, what should I do?”

Hinamori ran a hand through her hair and messed it up in exasperation. She leaned against the couch took a deep breath to calm herself down. Out of habit, she chewed on her bottom lip while pondering on ways she could bring up her grade; she was absolutely determined to do well for this module. It would be such a shame if she had to drop the module at the end of the semester.

“You know what’s unfair?” Hitsugaya suddenly asked.

She looked at him curiously. “What?”

“How you come into my apartment unannounced looking so flustered.”

“How is that—?”

Before she could complete her question, Hitsugaya had already stepped in front of her and was staring down at her confused face. He bent down to her level, placing his hands on each side of her. When she didn’t protest or push him away, Hitsugaya moved forward, closing in on her parted lips. He could feel her breaths coming out in small puffs of air and sealed her mouth with a kiss. Hinamori was surprised but responded to the kiss by closing her eyes and moving her lips against his. She wondered where the hell that came from and then it hit her: she _turned him on_.

The kiss was brief and when Hitsugaya pulled away to study her response, Hinamori asked, “That wasn’t your way of cheering me up was it?”

“I wonder…” he said with a smirk.

Hinamori flashed him a smile of her own and stood up to kiss him again as she rested her palms on his chest for balance. Hitsugaya wrapped an arm around her waist and held on to her neck to draw her closer. As the kiss got heated, Hinamori reached down to grab the hem of his shirt and broke the kiss for a short moment to pull his shirt over his head. She dumped the shirt on the floor and covered his mouth once more, her fingers running up his torso.

Hitsugaya felt himself grow hotter as her warm fingers danced across his skin. God, he could get used to this. When they broke the kiss for air, they stared at each other with an intensity that only made them more aroused. Slowly, Hinamori took his hand in hers and pulled him in the direction of his bedroom. Hitsugaya went along with her, completely enticed by her boldness. As he followed after her, he couldn’t help checking out her slender curves and reminded himself to appreciate how his room would look like with her clothes littered over the bedroom floor.

He wasted no time in slamming the door shut with his foot the moment they stepped into the room.

* * *

Something was definitely up.

Everywhere Hinamori went, she heard whispers and hushed voices around her. When she turned in the direction of the voices, the students hurriedly looked away. She even caught some of them pointing fingers at her. What was going on? Did she have something on her face? Was her outfit weird?

She tried her best to ignore the whispers and funny stares but they continued even when she reached her locker. She was glad that first period was starting in five minutes because the murmurs and stares were beginning to get on her nerves. Hinamori was about to shut her locker when Matsumoto came running to her, a look on her face that could only mean bad news.

“Hinamori! Bad news! Someone found out about—”

“Ah! Hinamori Momo?” a voice said dramatically in the distance, cutting Matsumoto off. “Yes, it’s true. She _is_ sleeping with my boyfriend, Hitsugaya Toushirou. Well, ex-boyfriend, now that I found out he’s been sleeping with that loser.”

That voice! Kitagawa?! Hinamori looked over her shoulder to see that a group of students had crowded around the girl, who was continuing to spread lies about her.

“Hinamori Momo?!” a girl exclaimed. “But isn’t she Hitsugaya’s childhood friend?”

“Apparently she’s more than that. You’ve heard of the term ‘friends with benefits’ right? That’s what’s going on between them. I bet she seduced him with that trick and stole him away from me! What a slut.”

Just then, she caught sight of Hinamori and Matsumoto at the lockers, staring at her with astonishment and disbelief. She narrowed her eyes and shot them a menacing glare.

“Ah. Hinamori. Didn’t see you there. You look thoroughly debauched; had fun fucking your best friend last night?”

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: The Rumor Mill_ **


	5. The Rumour Mill

Today was the worst day of Hinamori’s college life. Never had she experienced so much mortification and distress in a single day. Rumors about her relationship with Hitsugaya were spreading around campus like wildfire and everywhere she went, they followed her like a leech. She couldn’t concentrate during classes at all with so many students talking behind her back. Heck, some of them were even gossiping about her right in front of her. She even saw a note being passed around in Kyouraku-sensei’s class which she knew was about her because of the stares she got after they read it. Way to be subtle. All she did was worry about how she could stop the rumors from spreading and exactly how much of the truth was distorted.

It was only until she had a common free period with Matusmoto and Rukia that she managed to escape the vicious rumors. Her two friends had helpfully brought her to a more secluded part of the campus where they could have their lunch in peace.

“Damn that Kitagawa! How dare she spread such lies?!” Rukia said through gritted teeth. “I will shut her up.”

“What’s the point?” Matsumoto asked. “The scandal has already been revealed. What we need to do now is damage control.”

“I’d still like to teach her a lesson. Didn’t she get dumped because Hitsugaya couldn’t stand her? She still had the nerve to say that Hinamori stole him away. Ah, Hinamori? Are you okay?”

The two friends looked at Hinamori with concern; the girl looked like her soul had left her body. There was a blank look on her face and it didn’t seem like she heard anything Matsumoto and Rukia said.

“Oi! Hinamori! Get a hold of yourself!” Matsumoto shouted and snapped her fingers at her.

“Huh?” she responded vacantly.

“Listen, there’s no point getting depressed over it. It’s already out there in the open, we need to think of a way to prevent it from getting worse.”

“I’m sorry,” Hinamori started. “It’s just that…nothing like this has ever happened to me before and I don’t know what to do about it! I mean, people are calling me ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ and asking me what it’s like to sleep with Hitsugaya Toushirou. And did you know there was this guy who came up to me and asked if we could have a threesome?! A threesome!”

As she rambled on about other traumatic experiences, Matsumoto and Rukia looked at her pitifully. That was a lot to deal with and it was only the first half of the day.

“Umm…do you guys think I’m a horrible person for doing this as well?” Hinamori asked nervously.

“Of course not!” Rukia shouted.

“Hinamori, you can do whatever you want. There’s no judgment here,” Matsumoto said.

“Thank you…but how could I think it was a good idea to start sleeping with my best friend?! Am I an idiot?!”

“There, there,” Rukia comforted. “Let’s not dwell on that. More importantly, how the hell did Kitagawa find out?”

All three girls stared at one another curiously.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but I didn’t tell anyone. I know how to keep certain secrets to myself okay,” Matsumoto stated. Hinamori didn’t doubt that, she knew Matsumoto was a loyal friend.

“I didn’t mention it to anyone either,” Rukia chimed in. “Well I did tell Ichigo, but he already knew! He said he found out from Hitsugaya.”

“Ehh? I thought Hitsugaya-kun won’t tell a soul, even if it’s Ichigo-kun or Abarai-kun,” Hinamori said in surprise.

“Yeah…he was forced to tell them. It’s a long story.”

“So if neither of us told, then she must have overhead us…” Matsumoto trailed.

“We were too careless.”

“Where do you think she heard us?” Hinamori asked.

“It could be at the breakfast place when we first found out about it,” Matsumoto offered.

“That was last Wednesday. Kitagawa wouldn’t wait till now to expose them,” Rukia reasoned. “Hinamori, did you talk about it to anyone else?”

“I did talk to Hitsugaya-kun about it. Once at the bleachers and another time in the classroom…maybe she heard us then? But those incidents happened last week and this Monday. Kitagawa seems like the kind of person who would tell the whole world immediately after she found out.”

“Maybe she wasn’t the one who did,” Matsumoto suggested. “Like you said, she wouldn’t wait a second to air your dirty laundry in public. So maybe, she heard it from someone else and took it as an opportunity to blow it out of proportion and distort the truth.”

“That makes sense…” Rukia pondered. “So if she wasn’t the one who started this, who did?”

* * *

Matsumoto, Rukia and Hinamori made their way to class after finishing their lunch in a hurry. They entered the classroom and were relieved that Ukitake-sensei was late (yet again). Hinamori got to her desk and was trying her best to stop mulling over the exposed scandal and start concentrating in class instead but the moment she sat down, a few students surrounded her.

These people just didn’t have limits did they.

“Hey Hinamori,” a girl called out tauntingly. She recognized her as Ichinose Yumi, a fellow member in Kitagawa’s clique (whom Hinamori was fortunate enough to share zero classes with). “What’s it like screwing with one of the hottest guys on campus?”

Hinamori’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance. “Stop asking me that. It’s none of your business.”

“But you know, we were so surprised to hear that you made this sort of deal with Hitsugaya Toushirou,” another one said. “How’d you manage _that_? Did you put some sort of spell on him?”

Before Hinamori could defend herself, Rukia’s loud voice drowned out their giggles. “Spell? You need a spell to help fix that horrible nose job you have because there isn’t any physical methods that can correct such a hideous error.”

“Tch! Kuchiki! Just because your brother is a teacher in this college doesn’t mean you can throw your weight around!”

“But am I wrong?” Rukia mocked, pointing a finger in her direction. “Nose job.”

Moving her finger, she pointed to Ichinose Yumi’s chest and commented blandly, “Boob job. And you…”

A blond-haired student gritted her teeth as Rukia stared her down.

“Bimbo.”

“Kuchiki!!” she hissed and made a lunge at Rukia.

“Woah there,” Matsumoto interrupted. “Can’t you at least reign in your violent tendencies? You wouldn’t want people to know that you’re hot-headed and bad-tempered, especially if you want to hold on to your precious position in the cheerleading squad. I mean, how unfortunate would it be if the coach found out that you may potentially act on your aggressive nature?”

“At least I’m not a slut who stole somebody’s boyfriend!”

“Hey!” Rukia yelled. “The only reason Hitsugaya dumped Kitagawa’s sorry ass is because she’s a crazy bitch!”

“Oh yeah?! That’s not what we—”

A coughing fit was heard from the doorway, stopping the quarrel from getting more heated. Ukitake-sensei very timely ambled into the classroom, seemingly unaware that a glaring match was going on at the back of the class.

“I apologize for being late…”

But no one was listening to him. They were too busy watching the six girls glower at one another. It was only until Ukitake-sensei told everyone to get back to their seats that they dispersed. However, their threatening glares told Hinamori that it wasn’t over.

* * *

_Red alert! Somehow, people have found out about what’s going on with you and Hinamori! Prepare yourself!_

Hitsugaya re-read the text message from Matsumoto a second time to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. Shit. So people have already found out about their secret? And what did she mean by ‘prepare yourself’? Whatever’s happening between him and Hinamori is strictly their concern and even if others knew what was going on, they had no right to do anything about it.

Or that’s what he thought. Hitsugaya’s classes started in the afternoon on Thursdays so he was unaware of Kitagawa’s little announcement in the morning and what Hinamori had to go through. He had no idea what he was in for.

It wasn’t even long after he stepped into campus that Asano Keigo bounded to him and slung an arm over his shoulder.

“Hitsugaya my man! So a little birdie told me about your _special_ arrangement with that cutie Hinamori Momo. Now I’m not trying to snatch her away from you, so how about sharing some tips on getting girls to—”

“Get lost Keigo,” Ichigo appeared and smacked his fist across the side of his head before Hitsugaya burst a vein in his forehead due to extreme levels of irritation.

“Ow!” Keigo yelled and clutched his head. “Ichigo! I wasn’t asking you! You’re already with Kuchiki. What I want to know is how you get a girl to—”

“Didn’t your class start ten minutes ago?”

“Wha—shit!”

As Keigo ran clumsily towards his class, Hitsugaya glared daggers at him for acting so chummy with him and having the audacity to request ‘tips’ from him.

Once he was out of sight and Ichigo and Hitsugaya made their way to class, the orange-haired student asked, “Did you hear?”

“Yeah. Why do these things have a way of being revealed to the whole damn school?” Hitsugaya asked grumpily. He did not want to have to deal with such things first thing in school.

“Who knows. Rukia told me it was Kitagawa who let the cat out of the bag.”

“Kitagawa? Damn it, this is so troublesome.”

The rest of the day proved to be no less aggravating for Hitsugaya, who had to deal with multiple random guys coming up to him and requesting advice and pointers on how to get girls to sleep with them with no strings attached. One of them even had the guts to ask him for Hinamori’s number so he could get in on it as well. If Ichigo and Renji weren’t there to hold him back, he would have beaten the guy into a miserable pulp.

He was thankful he didn’t have that many lessons on Thursday otherwise he wouldn’t know how to control his annoyance. He wondered how long it would take for the rumors to die down…

At the end of the day, when Hitsugaya was about to head home, he received another text message, this time from Hinamori.

_Could you meet me at the okonomiyaki store a few streets down?_

She probably wanted to talk to him about the whole ‘our secret has been exposed’ issue. Judging from her personality, he knew she would freak out and get all worried about it. He needed to tell her not to worry; this sort of thing won’t last long and people will eventually forget about it.

As he arrived at the meeting place soon after receiving the message, he saw Hinamori waiting patiently at the side of the store looking a little troubled. He jogged up to her asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Hitsugaya-kun, you’re here. Um…”

“Hinamori—?”

“Let’s call it off!”

“Huh?”

“The whole ‘friends with benefits’ thing. Let’s call it off…”

“What? Why…is it because of what happened?”

She nodded silently.

“Hinamori! It doesn’t matter that people found out. It’s none of their business anyway!”

“You don’t understand!” she cried out. “It’s different for you! You’re a guy so I bet all the other guys just come up to you asking for tips and details, but for me…”

 “Don’t you know such stupid rumors will eventually die down? People are going to forget and leave us alone,” Hitsugaya countered.

“I said it’s different! The girls have been calling me…horrible names and everyone’s saying how I seduced you and stole you away from Kitagawa! I’ve been insulted, humiliated and taunted all day. I don’t want this to be how my college life is going to be…”

“Hinamori…”

“Let’s just stop okay? I’m sorry.”

And just like that, Hitsugaya was left staring at Hinamori’s retreating form as she briskly walked away. He knew the truth was heavily distorted after being passed by word of mouth so many times and she must have had to deal with the shit people gave her but he didn’t know it affected her that deeply. Horrible names? Seduced? He hadn’t known about that. It made him angry just thinking about it. It made raging mad to realize that Hinamori had to go through all that. And he couldn’t help the sense of guilt that ate away at him. All he got were foolish guys teasing and annoying the hell out of him but for Hinamori to experience such humiliation and mockery over a rumor that was blown way out of proportion was too much.

Hitsugaya wasn’t about to let such a thing spoil their arrangement and more importantly, their friendship. There was no time to wait till the rumors died down. It was time to take matters into his hands.

* * *

After a long night of tossing and turning in bed and getting a measly three hours of sleep in the end, Hinamori was dead tired. And that was already discounting the fact that she was also up all night stressing over how she ruined her friendship with Hitsugaya forever. What went down yesterday was sure to make their relationship sour. All of sudden, depression hung over her like a cloud and she knocked her head against her locker door. Will she and Hitsugaya ever be okay?

When she finally got the motivation to take her books out of her locker, Hinamori heard footsteps approaching her direction. She could sense the imminent taunting. God, it was too early for this.

Just when she was about to quickly escape, someone deliberately bumped into her shoulder and scattered a whole lot of packets onto the ground.

“Whoops. Didn’t see you there,” the individual said sarcastically.

Hinamori looked up to see that it was none other than Ichinose Yumi. She was sick and tired of her constant provoking and seriously just wanted to get the hell to class. As she ignored her and made her way to first period, the packets that littered the floor caught her eye.

Those were…condoms?!

Hinamori snapped her head to Ichinose who had a devilish smirk on her face.

“You should pick them up,” she sneered. “You need them. After all, we wouldn’t want to hear another scandal about you, this time with a baby bump! Although I wouldn’t dismiss the idea entirely, since you’ve been screwing around with Hitsugaya so much.”

“And what’s wrong with sleeping with my girlfriend?” a voice called out.

Hitsugaya very timely appeared behind Hinamori, who was shocked beyond words.

“Huh?!” Ichinose exclaimed. “Girlfriend?”

“What, did you not hear me the first time?” Hitsugaya answered dully.

“Since when was she your girlfriend?!”

“Since two weeks ago, after I broke up with Kitagawa. Speaking of which, I broke it off with her because she’s a controlling and possessive person with a bad attitude.”

“That’s not what I heard! I heard that—”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear Ichinose. Don’t you know you should get your facts straight before trusting what other people say and making a fool of yourself? So here’s the truth and be reminded that you’re hearing this from the horse’s mouth; I am dating Hinamori and so what if we’re sleeping together? I can sleep with my girlfriend can’t I? More importantly, it’s not any of your god damn business.”

Ichinose was left completely speechless with her mouth opening and closing like a fish; she truly painted an ungainly picture.

“You can keep those,” Hitsugaya said, pointing to the condoms on the ground. “We have our own.”

Turning, he grabbed Hinamori’s hand and departed with a sense of accomplishment stirring in his gut. When the brown-haired girl finally found her tongue and got her brain to work, she asked, “Hitsugaya-kun, class is starting soon…”

“We’ll take the long way there,” he replied, all the while holding onto her warm hand.

* * *

Apparently, all it took for people to start doubting the rumors was Hitsugaya declaring that he was dating Hinamori. By acting like they were a couple throughout the day and calmly denying everything people assumed (with the help of their friends as well), they managed to convince others that they were never friends with benefits in the first place. It only seemed that way because they’ve been seen together so frequently that people couldn’t tell the difference between them being lovers or just friends.

At the end of day when most of the rumors had been dispersed, Hitsugaya and Hinamori headed home together, holding hands even after they left the school premises. As they strolled on in silence, Hinamori noticed that Hitsugaya was holding onto her rather firmly and smiled to herself. He was still so protective even though he was the younger one.

“Hitsugaya-kun,” she called and carefully slipped her hand out of his. “About what you said…”

“It was just to shut them up and get them off our backs,” he explained. “I know it’s troublesome to pretend that we’re together, but at least it’s better than having those lies spread about us.”

“I see.”

“Besides,” he added slowly. “It’s not worth it to call it off just because of a stupid reason like that…”

He was blushing now and Hinamori couldn’t contain the giggle that escaped her lips. “You really like sleeping with me huh?” she asked jokingly.

“Yes.”

Hitsugaya answered with such seriousness that it surprised her. She felt her own blush rising up to color her cheeks a faint pink. She didn’t get a chance to respond before Hitsugaya was turning on his heel and continuing home.

“Come on. I’ll walk you home.”

The blushing girl was still standing there in mild shock, registering the fact that Hitsugaya Toushirou just admitted that he liked to sleep with her. It was _the_ Hitsugaya Toushirou after all; he may have been her best friend since young but Hinamori knew what a good catch he was. Former captain of the ice-hockey team with a body to die for, complete with a bad-boy attitude and the most beautiful set of eyes she had ever seen. She must have been a good lay and that was a lot to take in. When she snapped herself out of it, she didn’t realize the corners of her mouth were lifted in a small smile as she chased after him.

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: Behind Closed Doors_ **


	6. Behind Closed Doors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this, my dear readers, is where I present the first arc! The last five chapters were merely an introduction; it was for me to set the stage and context and introduce some minor obstacles. This is where it picks up!

Give it a few days and the sure enough, the rumors died down gradually. It was also helped by the fact that once people found out Kitagawa was indeed dumped by Hitsugaya due to her less-than-stellar personality (courtesy of Rukia), they quickly deemed her an unreliable source of information. Moreover, there were some people, namely Zaraki-sensei’s top students, Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika, who simply didn’t care about the scandal and treated Hinamori and Hitsugaya the way they always did. However, it was still unclear as to who was the source of the rumors but Hinamori decided it wasn’t important anymore.

There was a bigger problem ahead.

The troubled student stared dejectedly at the test paper in front of her as the big, fat ‘C’ looked right back at her, as if it was sneering.

This is no good. She hadn’t got a grade higher than ‘C’ in this entire module and it was worrying her to no end. She didn’t even know what she was doing wrong. And the worst thing about this test was the ‘see me’ written in red at the top. It was bad enough that she was getting poor grades but to get called out because of it? That was too depressing. Hinamori could already see the disappointed look Aizen-sensei will give her. Why did she have to suck at her favorite class?

“Hinamori. Class has ended. Are you coming?” Matsumoto called out and (fortunately) interrupted her brooding.

“Ah! I have to stay for a little while. You guys go ahead, I’ll join you later.”

As Matsumoto and Rukia headed out, Hinamori nervously made her way to the teacher’s desk where Aizen was calmly jotting something down in a planner.

Hinamori approached him slowly and asked, “Aizen-sensei, you wanted to see me?”

She placed the test paper on his desk and desperately wanted to hide from the intimidating ‘C’.

“Ah, that’s right,” Aizen said kindly. “Hinamori-kun, as you know, you haven’t been performing exceptionally well in this module.”

“I know…” Hinamori replied sheepishly. “I’ll work even harder, I promise!”

“I know you will. You have demonstrated your diligence consistently and the effort you put into your work is not something I am worried about.”

“T-Thank you.”

Damn it. Hinamori was expecting him to be all disappointed and chiding and here he was, oozing with kindness and compliments even though she was doing so poorly his class. It made her feel guilty but at the same time, she was so glad she had him as a teacher.

“However, it still remains a problem that you’re unable to bring up your grade.”

Seeing Hinamori’s worried expression, Aizen smiled gently and continued, “Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world. As your teacher, I will help you to improve your scores. If there is anything you need help with or any topics that you do not understand, feel free to approach me for clarification. I will not push you to drop this module unless absolutely necessary because I believe with your dedication, you are able to excel.”

“I will do my best!” Hinamori declared, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

“That’s good. Remember, my door is always open to students in need.”

“Thank you Aizen-sensei!”

With a more uplifted spirit, Hinamori took off to join her friends after being dismissed by Aizen. Well, that didn’t go so badly after all.

* * *

“So what did Aizen-sensei want from you?” Rukia asked during their lunch break. Usually, they would have lunch with the guys as well since they all shared Aizen’s class but they had extra classes with Zaraki-sensei that week. Poor them.

“He just talked to me about my grades and how I have to pull them up but he wasn’t angry or condescending at all. I thought he would be disappointed but he was really kind and supportive; he even offered to help me!” Hinamori replied happily.

“That Aizen-sensei really has a way with students. He’s got half the female students in his class smitten with him,” Matsumoto commented.

“I’m not smitten with him!” Hinamori exclaimed defensively.

“Yeah, and Hisagi-senpai doesn’t have a crush on Matsumoto,” Rukia said as-a-matter-of-factly.

“Hey, don’t drag me into this.”

“But what did you score on the test Hinamori?” Rukia asked, ignoring Matsumoto.

“Um…a ‘C’.”

“That’s not too bad. The test was quite difficult.”

“But a ‘C’ is the highest grade I’ve got in this module…”

“Oh.”

“Thinking about it is demoralizing me again…” Hinamori lamented. “I studied really hard for the test and for all my other assignments but I just can’t get a grade higher than a lousy ‘C’! What am I doing wrong? And I’m not even aiming for an ‘A’; I would really be contended with a ‘B’…”

“You know,” Rukia started. “You could ask Menoly Mallia for tips.”

“Menoly?” Matsumoto asked. “The blonde with a boyish haircut?”

“Why her?” Hinamori added curiously. Menoly Mallia was their classmate under Aizen and she shared no other classes with them because she studied a different major. The three of them hardly ever talked to her because she was always hanging around Loly Aivirrne and they were both rather hostile and unapproachable.

“Because she used to score badly in the module but recently, her grades had improved considerably. You could ask her how she managed to pull up her grades,” Rukia answered.

“She doesn’t seem like she’d be willing to share tips with others,” Hinamori remarked.

“It won’t hurt to try,” Matsumoto said. “We’d definitely help you with anything you don’t understand but it’s better to get advice from someone who was in the same situation as you.”

“I guess you’re right. Then I’ll ask her tomorrow after class! Hopefully, it won’t be for nothing.”

* * *

The next day, when Hinamori got up to look for Menoly before she left, she had to chase after her down the corridor. That girl always seemed to be in a rush to get out of class…

“Hey, Menoly-san! Wait!” Hinamori called after her.

The blond-haired girl stopped in her tracks and turned around, a rather annoyed expression crossing her features for a brief moment.

“What do you want?”

“I know this seems a little out of the blue, but I’ve got a favor to ask you,” Hinamori began.

“What sort of favor?” she asked warily.

“It’s about improving my grade for Aizen-sensei’s class. I haven’t been doing very well and I heard you managed to pull up your grade recently. I was wondering if—”

“Who did you hear that from?” she demanded.

“Huh? Um, Kuchiki Rukia. Is something wrong?”

“No,” she answered curtly. “I don’t have any tips for you.”

“Come on, take it as you’re helping someone who was in the same boat as you!” Hinamori pleaded. “I’ll owe you one!”

“Why don’t you just study!” she replied in irritation, resuming her brisk walk away from Hinamori. “Th-That’s what I did.”

The desperate student did the same and walked alongside Menoly, determined to get some help for her predicament.

“I do study! I’ve been studying so hard for this module but my grades are just not improving! I’m at my wit’s end. Please, can’t you help—”

“I said no! Leave me alone!” she shouted and turned around a corner sharply, jogging away and leaving Hinamori even more helpless than she was before.

Well that was futile. The brown-eyed student sighed in resignation and made her way back to class disappointedly. What was she going to do now?

* * *

Hitsugaya Toushirou hated Kurotsuchi’s lessons. The creepy teacher had a penchant for dragging classes and delaying everyone. It sucked even more to have his class as the last period because he was holding them back from going home. Today, he extended the class for another good thirty minutes and Hitsugaya’s patience was running thin. It was already in the evening and he was late; he was supposed to meet Hinamori at the bleachers forty five minutes ago. His saving grace was that he only had to take Kurotsuchi’s module for one semester.

He strode down the corridor quickly and the loud creak of a door hinge from across caught his attention incidentally. That was weird; most of the classes would have already ended by this time, especially classes in this block. It was even rare to see students around campus now; most of them would have retired to their hall rooms or headed home. Hitsugaya turned to the source of the sound and noticed a figure emerging from the teachers’ lounge. Oh, so it was a teacher. But that short stature and short blond hair sure didn’t look like it belonged to any teachers from this block.

As Hitsugaya looked more closely, he realized it wasn’t a teacher at all. In fact, she looked rather familiar. He searched his mind to put a name to her face, finally recognizing her as Menoly Mallia, a fellow classmate from Aizen’s class. He didn’t take much notice of her since she was studying a different major from the rest of them and she was always disappearing once she had the chance. But something about this wasn’t right. She seemed tired and if he wasn’t mistaken, a little scared and uneasy. She looked disheveled as well, like she just got into a scuffle, which was a little weird because what else could you do in the teachers’ lounge than approach a teacher for academic help? However, seeing as it was none of his business, Hitsugaya dismissed it and quickened his pace to the bleachers.

When he arrived, he saw Hinamori sitting at the top with a faraway look in her eyes. He could tell something was bothering her; he recognized that look.

“Hey,” he greeted. “Sorry for making you wait.”

“It’s okay,” she replied, shaking her head. “I had nothing better to do anyway. Was it Kurotsuchi-sensei?”

“Yeah, it was,” he said and they both fell silent for a moment. “What’s wrong?”

“Huh?”

“You got that look on your face. Something’s bothering you. What is it?”

Hinamori was slightly taken aback at his acuteness. Then again, he had known her for years. “Remember I told you I was having trouble with Aizen-sensei’s class?”

At his nod, she continued, “Well I got back the test yesterday and it was disappointing. I had to see him after class and he told me I had to pull up my grade or risk dropping the entire module, but he was so encouraging it made me feel bad. So I looked for Menoly Mallia after class since Rukia told me her grades improved recently so I wanted to ask her for help but she turned me down…”

“Menoly Mallia? I saw her just now. She was leaving the teachers’ lounge.”

“Teachers’ lounge? Ah, maybe she asked Aizen-sensei for help! He offered to help me with my studies; perhaps I should take up his offer…I don’t see what other options I have,” Hinamori said dismally.

“Don’t.”

“Why not?” she asked in surprise.

“You don’t have to go to him for help,” Hitsugaya answered. “I’ll help you.”

“How?”

“I’ll tutor you.”

“Y-You will?”

“Yeah. I’m not a teacher but I know my stuff. It’s more convenient this way. Do you want—”

“Yes! Thank you Shirou-chan!” Hinamori exclaimed gleefully and wrapped her arms around him in a giant hug.

“Don’t call me ‘Shirou-chan’!” he shouted, fighting the blush that colored his cheeks.

* * *

It had been a week since Hitsugaya offered to tutor Hinamori and she finally felt she had a pretty good grasp of most of the concepts. Today, she had the opportunity to demonstrate her improved essay skills in the pair work they were assigned. The problem: her partner was Menoly Mallia. She still seemed a little wary of Hinamori which was uncalled for because Hinamori was tactful enough to stop pestering her for advice if she was so reluctant and snappish the last time.

The brown-eyed girl was serious about completing this assignment properly even if her partner was being difficult. It was time to prove that she didn’t actually suck at this module. She was trying her best, really. But she just couldn’t ignore the blatant red and purple mark on the girl’s clavicle. It was small but it was such a dark bruise and it was just _there_ , staring right back at Hinamori. But that wasn’t all; there was another one on her forearm peeking out of her shirt sleeve. It bloomed over her skin like an angry mark. The blond-haired girl also looked weary, as if she had a few sleepless nights. If Hinamori looked more closely, she would notice the dark circles under her eyes. Menoly was hardly even contributing to their assignment; she barely said anything throughout the course of their discussion and she kept zoning out.

“Are you okay?” Hinamori asked concernedly after noticing Menoly staring off into a distance again.

She snapped her attention back to Hinamori and said testily, “I’m fine.”

“What happened there?”

Menoly followed her gaze and once she realized Hinamori was examining the bruises she so carelessly left uncovered, she hastily adjusted her shirt to conceal them and scowled at Hinamori.

“I bumped into furniture,” she replied brusquely.

“With your clavicle?”

“Tch. What’s it to you?”

“Nothing! It’s just that you don’t get such bruises from bumping into furniture. It looks like—”

“Mind your own business!” she shouted, attracting the attention of those around them. “Will it kill you to stop being so nosey?!”

She gave Hinamori a final warning glare before leaving the classroom by the back door. Hinamori sat back in shock and silence. Menoly may not be the friendliest person in class but she was never this testy. What’s up with her?

* * *

There was a breathy whisper. Followed by a choking sob.

“What’s the matter? We’re not done yet.”

His voice was smooth and it dripped with mockery and arousal. With a final tug, he tightened the belt around her wrists, ignoring how the metal buckle cut into her skin.

“It hurts…”

He heard her whimper but it only fueled his sick desires. He trailed a long finger down her arm, pulling on her sleeve to reveal her shoulder and pressing his mouth over the bruise that bloomed across her pale skin.

“I know,” he whispered. “It’s okay.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, unable to bring herself to look at him, let alone endure the way her skin prickled under his touch.

“Don’t turn away. Let the camera see your pretty face.”

How could he be so gentle yet inflict such pain? How could he see the torment written across her features yet dismiss them so easily? Wasn’t it enough?

“S-Stop…”

He halted his actions and lifted his head to look straight into her frightened eyes. She shrank under his piercing gaze.

“Stop?” he asked intimidatingly. “Do you want me to stop? Just say the word and this will be over.”

There it was. There was that manipulation she had so helplessly fallen victim to. She knew he wasn’t lying. No, he never lied. He only deceived and exploited. She knew what his words entailed. She understood the consequences and she was in too deep to get out of this mess.

Closing her eyes in submission, she turned her head away, allowing him to dip his head to kiss her neck in triumph.

“Good girl.”

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: Shady Help_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the lack of fluff in this one. I will try my best to make up for it in the next chapter!


	7. Shady Help

“Time’s up.”

Hinamori dropped her pen as she finished her last bullet point in time with Hitsugaya’s instruction. She looked up at him victoriously and pushed the piece of paper towards him, her chest pushed out in satisfaction. She had a good feeling about this exercise.

Hitsugaya perused her essay outline and nodded in approval after he finished assessing her conclusion.

“Not bad,” he said. “You’ve got the main points down correctly and your introduction and conclusion have more substance now. The structure of your essay is also more organized. If you keep this up, you’ll be able to do better in the essay component.”

“Really?! That’s great!” Hinamori said cheerfully. “Did you see how I supported my argument with the article by Charles Horioka?”

“Yes I did,” Hitsugaya admitted, rather amused at Hinamori’s smugness. “I must say, you’ve really improved.”

“Of course! After all, I’ve got the best tutor to help me!”

She smiled gratefully at him, unaware that he was blushing slightly and had looked away. She also didn’t realize that he was propping himself up on the coffee table and moving towards her as she happily studied the little ticks dotting the page whenever Hitsugaya found she had a good essay point. It was only when she sensed his presence closing in that she looked up but by then, Hitsugaya had already pressed a light kiss on her lips.

Hinamori blinked a few times in surprise, completely caught off guard by the unexpected kiss. When Hitsugaya lifted his hand to hold her chin gently, she closed her eyes and melted into it. It had been a while since they did anything remotely intimate and they both realized how much they had missed this. Which was why she molded her lips to fit his in an earnest mix of need and want, her mouth curling up when she felt him mimic her movements.

Hinamori lifted her hand to cover his and brought it away from her chin, allowing herself to crane her neck upwards and kiss him with greater intensity. Unknowingly, she had maneuvered her hand to intertwine their fingers with ease. Hitsugaya relished the affectionate contact of their interlaced fingers as he caressed her hand tenderly. They broke the kiss only to close in again to meet their mouths in urgency, as if they were constantly attracted to the almost tangible desire for more.

Without any sort of warning, Hitsugaya pulled away and made his way around the table to kneel in front of her. He looked at her with an intensity burning in his teal eyes. Hinamori noticed his expectant gaze, immediately understanding that he was silently asking for her permission to continue and knowing what will happen if they do. She almost chuckled at his silent request; didn’t he know that she wanted this just as much as he did? Hinamori stared back at him under lowered lashes and nodded.

Hitsugaya wasn’t an animal. When he saw Hinamori nod, he knew he had all the time in the world to take it further so he took his time drawing closer to her, enjoying the anticipation written across her face yet a little guilty of prolonging the suspense. He kissed her slow and hard, wasting no time in slipping out his tongue which she gladly welcomed with her own. As they engaged in a sensual dance of who gets to dominate this time round, Hitsugaya’s cellphone vibrated against the table, making whirring noises that interrupted their kiss.

“’Shirou…your cellphone is ringing,” Hinamori informed Hitsugaya who was still busy trying to catch her mouth with his.

“Ignore it.”

Without looking, he rejected the call with a swipe of his finger. Hinamori looked at him in surprise and was about to protest but he kissed her and effectively shut her up. He surged forward and pushed her down, placing his hand on the floor firmly to support the both of them. As her back hit the floor, she let out a squeak in surprise. Hitsugaya hovered above her, his eyes never leaving hers as he straddled her and played with the hem of her top before slipped his hand under. Slowly, he slid his palm up the side of her torso, his calloused fingers sending shivers down her spine as they glided across her smooth skin.

“’Shirou…”

She was blushing madly under his ministrations and unable to take it any longer, Hinamori grabbed him by the collar and crushed her lips to his, finally throwing all inhibitions aside for the both of them.

* * *

Ever since Menoly snapped at Hinamori, the latter hadn’t seen her in class at all. She wondered if she was absent from school or deliberately skipped class. Hinamori was worried it was the second reason because it would most probably be her fault. Somehow, she felt obligated to pass whatever notes and assignments they had to her.

Hinamori decided not to dwell too much on it and at the end of the class, had already forgotten about the matter. She was just about to join Matsumoto, Rukia and the guys for break when Aizen called out her name.

“Hinamori-kun. Please stay in class for a while; I have something to discuss with you.”

“Oh…okay,” Hinamori replied awkwardly and waved goodbye to her friends before approaching the teacher’s desk.

“Aizen-sensei…?”

“Please relax,” Aizen said gently. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then…”

Good lord, was she so nervous she couldn’t finish her sentences?

“This is regarding the pair assignment,” he started and slid hers and Menoly’s towards Hinamori. “I take it you completed this part of the assignment?”

Hinamori examined the portion he was pointing to and nodded, “Yes.”

“Hinamori-kun, there is a distinct performance gap between your part of the assignment and Menoly-san’s. I’m afraid I cannot give you more than a ‘C’ for this.”

“What! It can’t be! I mean…I’ve been practicing a lot and I’ve even had help,” Hinamori said, crestfallen.

“Help?” Aizen asked curiously. “From whom may I ask?”

“Ahh…Hitsugaya-kun.”

“I see. He may be a top student in my class but it doesn’t mean he has the capabilities to teach you how to excel. I’m sorry, but if this keeps up, you will have to attend extra classes.”

Extra classes?! No way, she didn’t have time for that! And after all the tutoring Hitsugaya went through with her, if she had to take extra classes, she’ll be letting him down. She can’t let all their efforts go down the drain, surely it wasn’t for nothing. Noticing Hinamori’s discouraged expression, Aizen took the opportunity to reiterate his previous offer.

“Hitsugaya-kun may be of some help, but he cannot do much. Like I said before, my door is always open to students in need. I will help you if you are willing to let me do so, Hinamori-kun.”

He smiled benevolently at her who could only hang her head in shame and manage a meek, “I understand.”

Hinamori left the classroom more demoralized than before, knowing that her efforts had gone to waste.

That night, Hinamori looked up Hitsugaya in his apartment to inform him of what happened in the afternoon. She thought she should at least apologize for wasting his time.

“I am so so so sorry Hitsugaya-kun!”

Hitsugaya had to set aside his tea preparation to tell Hinamori to stop apologizing.

“It’s fine,” he said, holding her wrists and pulling her hands apart (she had clapped her hands together and lifted them to her head apologizing to him non-stop). “You don’t have to keep apologizing to me.”

“But I wasted your time. Aizen-sensei said the assignment could only get me a ‘C’!”

“You didn’t waste my time,” Hitsugaya chided. “I did it out of my own accord.”

“Which is why I feel even worse about it!”

“Hinamori. So what if you scored a ‘C’? It was a pair assignment and Menoly hardly even contributed right? You had to take on her workload so it’s okay if you didn’t score as well as you could’ve hoped.”

Hinamori stared after him as he walked out of the kitchen carrying two cups of steaming hot tea. She felt a sense of gratitude bubbling within her; his words always had a way of comforting her. She followed him into the living room and sat across him from the table, nursing the cup of tea in her hands.

“You know,” she started. “Aizen-sensei informed me that if this keeps up, I’ll have to take extra classes. He also offered to help me again and told me that his door is always open to students in need. I really don’t want to flunk this module…maybe I should really take up his offer.”

“Don’t.”

“That’s the second time you’re telling me that. Why are you against the idea? Do you have something against Aizen-sensei?”

“It’s not that,” Hitsugaya answered. “Something just doesn’t sit right with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve studied so much for this class and I know for certain that you understand the concepts. I’ve looked through your work and exercises and with that standard, I don’t believe you can’t score at least a ‘B’.”

“Are you saying that Aizen-sensei is deliberately marking me down?” Hinamori asked incredulously.

“I don’t know. But you haven’t been scoring badly from the start. It’s only recently that your grades seem to be dropping. It just seems weird that he’s giving you low grades and then advising you to approach him for help.”

“Don’t make him out to be so shady, Hitsugaya-kun…”

He sighed and continued, “Why don’t you submit the essay you completed during our last tutoring session? That was the best one so far and we’ll see what grade he gives you and use that as a gauge.”

“Okay…”

Hitsugaya felt unsettled and that feeling only grew when he reasoned with Hinamori. He really didn’t want to be forming such assumptions about him (Aizen was a highly respected teacher after all), but the more he thought about it, the more he was wary about Aizen. Something weird was going on and he had an idea what it was. He only hoped he was wrong.

* * *

Hinamori heeded Hitsugaya’s advice and sent Aizen a soft copy of the essay she completed immediately when she got home last night. Now, she sat in front of her laptop checking her email. She didn’t have to scroll through her inbox as she saw the email from ‘Aizen Sousuke’ at the top. It was sent just half an hour ago; it was time to find out if she was truly, naturally dreadful at economics. Hinamori clicked on the email and downloaded the attachment. As the document opened, she was greeted with a ‘D’ from her screen.

You have got to be kidding.

There was no way…there was no way it was that bad! She quickly scanned the document and Aizen’s comments and marking points.

_Introduction does not address the problem… Did not state parameters… Out of point… Diagram?... Unnecessary point… Deviation from the line of argument… Weak conclusion._

Hinamori’s head hit the keyboard in anguish. This was it. This was the last straw. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Hitsugaya, she was just at her wit’s end. She had tried everything to pull up her grade but nothing seemed to be working. Fine then. She’ll take up his offer to tutor her. She was going to at least find out what she was doing wrong. If this was the only way that will grant her a chance to improve her scores, she’ll seek his help.

* * *

The dark-haired student found herself knocking on Aizen’s door two days later. She had replied his email, informing him that she’ll take up his offer to tutor her and they had fixed a date for her first session. She hadn’t told Hitsugaya and when he asked her about it, she sort-of lied and said she was still waiting for his reply regarding her essay. How could she tell him when he seemed to be so against it? Besides, she didn’t know how to tell him that one of her supposedly better works had achieved a pathetic ‘D’.

Hinamori entered his office after hearing a ‘come in’.

“Hinamori-kun,” he greeted amiably. “Close the door please.”

She did as she was told and awkwardly stepped towards his desk.

“Take a seat,” he said and folded his hands on his lap after he finished typing away at his desktop. “I’m glad you finally decided to seek my help. I’m sure we will be able to improve your scores.”

“Mm.”

“I was right wasn’t I? Hitsugaya-kun may have helped you, but ultimately, you also have to rely on your teachers.”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s get started then.”

Throughout the course of her first tutoring session with Aizen, Hinamori couldn’t help thinking that she already knew whatever he was teaching. Hitsugaya already went through this stuff with her during their numerous tutoring sessions and she could even remember them from the tips of her fingers. However, Aizen fortunately didn’t dwell on recapping the chapters for too long. He moved on to give Hinamori short quizzes on the first few topics.

“We’ll start with market failure,” he instructed and pushed a blank piece of paper in front of her. “Please draw the graph for positive externalities in consumption and label each point.”

“Okay…”

Truth to be told, Hinamori was feeling a little sleepy. Aizen had been reiterating the important sections of the first five chapters and with a voice like his, it was hard not to be lulled into a drowsy state. Moreover, it was about five in the afternoon which was the part of the day that Hinamori felt sleepiest in. As she scribbled away, determined to finish this session as soon as possible, Aizen got up from his seat and sauntered over to her side. Hinamori shrank in her seat; was she doing something wrongly?

Aizen said nothing and simply stood beside her, casually checking her work and nodding whenever she labeled her points correctly. The dark-haired girl was getting more self-conscious the longer Aizen stood at her side. She tried her best to ignore him but that proved to be futile as her mind went blank and her hands froze when she turned her attention back to the question. She knew this…she had gone through this part with Hitsugaya many times, so why was there some kind of barrier in her mind that prevented her from recalling the answer now? Looks like she had no choice…

“Um…how do I continue from here?” Hinamori asked hesitantly.

Aizen shifted closer to her and bent down to examine her half-completed answer. If Hinamori turned her head, her nose would merely be a hair’s breadth away from his cheek.

_Too close!_

“Ah, you have to label the marginal external benefits here,” he answered smoothly and pointed to her diagram.

“O-Oh yeah.”

Hinamori focused on finishing her diagram, this time with more speed and hopefully precision.

“Hold on. You’ve got it wrong here,” Aizen suddenly said and to Hinamori’s surprise, settled his hand over hers to stop her from writing.

“Eh?”

Her skin prickled where he was touching her and although his fingers were smooth and gentle, she felt incredibly uncomfortable.

“Deadweight loss should be represented by this triangle instead,” he corrected, his hand not leaving hers the whole time.

“I-I see…”

She was about to subtly shift her hand away from him but that was unnecessary as he finally removed his hand but if Hinamori wasn’t mistaken, she felt him slide his finger across her hand ever so lightly. It instantly sent goosebumps up her arm and made her wonder exactly what the hell was going on?

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: The Deeper You Dig_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was enough to make up for the lack of fluff in the previous chapter! How do you like the way things are progressing? Please look forward to the next one!


	8. The Deeper You Dig

“And then he put his hand over mine like this,” Hinamori described and proceeded to place her hand lightly over Rukia’s in an attempt to demonstrate what had transpired the previous day.

“That seems really inappropriate,” Rukia said dubiously.

“That’s not all! When he removed his hand, I swear I felt him slide his finger across mine…like he was caressing my hand or something,” she recalled and shuddered at the memory.

“Woah, that is _not_ okay!” Matsumoto exclaimed. “What kind of teacher touches a student like that?!”

“A perverted one,” Rukia answered bluntly.

Hinamori flinched inwardly at her words. Was Aizen that kind of person? But he seemed so cultured and refined and Hinamori even admired him…but she couldn’t deny the fact that yesterday’s tutoring session made her feel uncomfortable.

“Hinamori! Did he do anything else to you?” Matsumoto asked.

“N-No…that was the only time he touched me.”

Saying that left a bitter taste in Hinamori’s mouth.

“Well, did you learn anything useful during the tutoring session?” Rukia inquired.

“To be honest, I learnt nothing new at all. I’ve already went through everything he taught yesterday with Hitsugaya-kun before and although I got stuck at a couple of questions, it was because I was distracted.”

“If you didn’t learn anything, then stop the tutoring sessions,” Matsumoto advised.

“Ah…”

“Oh no. You’ve already fixed a date for the next one right?” Rukia presumed.

Hinamori nodded meekly.

“So what? Just skip it!”

“I can’t just skip an appointment I made with a teacher!”

“You can if you have a valid reason,” Matsumoto argued. “Just tell him that you’re sick.”

“Then he’ll postpone it and she can’t keep using that same excuse every time she has an appointment,” Rukia countered. “We’ll have to—”

“Hold on a minute!” Hinamori shouted. “You two are making him out to be some sort of pervert! Do you really think he’s like that?”

“…Hinamori. Yesterday was only the first lesson and he already has the boldness to touch you in such an inappropriate manner. He made you feel uncomfortable right? Who knows what he’ll do in the next few lessons?”

“Matsumoto’s right. There are clear boundaries between teachers and students and I think he has already crossed that, intentionally or not.”

“But…it’s Aizen-sensei…”

“Who has already taken an interest in you and may even—”

“Rangiku! Don’t say it like that!” Hinamori exclaimed embarrassedly. “I really never expected him, of all people…”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Rukia started. “Remember Urahara-san? Who knew he used to be involved with the yakuza? Now he just owns a little bar with Yoruichi-san.”

“That’s true,” Matsumoto and Hinamori both said.

“But what should I do now? The only way to get out of the tutoring lessons is to score a higher grade but to do that, I have to keep attending those lessons.”

“…Shit.”

* * *

That night, Hitsugaya and Hinamori were in the latter’s apartment. Apparently, Hitsugaya requested to look through Hinamori’s essays and although she thought it was weird for him to suddenly want to check her work, she supposed he probably had a good reason.

Damn right he had a good reason. Hitsugaya couldn’t ignore the unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach concerning Aizen and Hinamori. He just had to find out if he was deliberately marking her down, which was why he decided to assess Hinamori’s previous essays and tests to determine if she was indeed failing the module. He wasn’t a teacher and didn’t exactly know what the rubrics of the module were, but Hitsugaya could tell whether or not a piece of work was up to standard. They didn’t call him an academic genius for nothing.

Hinamori kneeled on her bedroom floor with her hands in her lap, anxiously glancing at Hitsugaya as he perused her work with utmost concentration, his eyebrows knitting together as he read on. When he was done, Hinamori almost reeled back at the anger in his expression.

“Hitsugaya-kun…?”

“Hinamori, these aren’t ‘D’-grade essays at all,” he said through gritted teeth.

“What!”

“I’ve read and re-read them to make sure I’m not wrong and I can guarantee you these essays aren’t half-bad.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ve read enough model essays to know for certain that these are worth at least a ‘B’.”

“So that means…Aizen-sensei intentionally marked me down?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“But why?” Hinamori asked with widened eyes. She didn’t understand it. What was the point of marking her down when all he did was instruct her to pull up her grade numerous times? It was too ironic. Unless…immediately, the events of their first tutoring lesson flooded her mind.

“Ah…!”

“What is it?”

Hinamori averted her gaze and stared down at the floor nervously. “Umm…”

“Tell me.”

She took a deep breath and started; she couldn’t keep it from Hitsugaya any longer, “Actually, I’ve already attended my first tutoring lesson with Aizen-sensei…”

“You what?”

“Please don’t be mad!” she implored but the look in his teal eyes made it clear that he was wasn’t going to let this slide.

“When?” he demanded.

“Two days ago…” she replied softly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just…after I sent him the essay like you told me to, he gave me a ‘D’ and wrote a whole bunch of comments on why it was badly-written. I thought I was a hopeless case and I was really at my wit’s end so I decided to take up his offer. I didn’t mean to keep it from you! I didn’t want you to be disappointed after all the help you’ve given me.”

“Hinamori, I wasn’t disappointed at all,” Hitsugaya assured. “And now that we’ve found out Aizen’s been giving you low grades deliberately, we know that—wait, what happened during the lesson?”

Hitsugaya’s tone took a complete turn; he sounded solemn and even threatening.

“Well…he went through a few topics at first and then moved on to give me quizzes. But after that…”

She paused momentarily to gauge Hitsugaya’s reaction and noticed that his frown deepened.

“He started to get a little too close…”

“What do you mean?”

“He touched my hand to stop me from writing because I was doing it wrong and he just…lingered there. And when he finally removed his hand, he trailed his finger across my skin. It’s weird right?”

“As I thought…”

“Eh?”

“Hinamori. Stop attending those tutoring sessions.”

The brown-eyed girl was alarmed by the harshness and finality behind his words. She hadn’t expected him to be this imperative.

“The thing is, he has already fixed another lesson…”

“Skip it.”

“But—”

“Hinamori!” he said loudly, scaring her a little. “We’ve misjudged him; his intentions are not so simple. It makes me wonder if Menoly Mallia has something to do with this.”

“Menoly-san? Why do you say that?”

“The other day when I was late meeting you at the bleachers, I saw Menoly leave the teachers’ lounge and she looked tousled, like she was handled roughly…”

“That reminds me, she was very hostile when I asked her for help with my grades. She even yelled at me and told me to mind my own business. It seems like she was over-reacting. Do you think that has anything to do with this?”

“Possibly,” Hitsugaya pondered. “We can’t make any decisive conclusions yet. For now, I want you to stay away from Aizen.”

“You say ‘stay away’…but—”

“I’ll watch out for you,” he declared firmly.

“Eh?”

“I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

Hitsugaya looked at her with determination swimming behind his teal irises and Hinamori felt assured by his resolution, even undeserving of his willingness to do so much for her.

“T-Thank you.”

Hinamori wondered if that was necessary in the first place. She knew Aizen had more to him than meets the eye but she doubted the level of danger he posed when all he seemed to be interested in was the cheap thrill that came with venturing into the restrictions of teacher-student relationships. What she didn’t know was how this wolf in sheep’s clothing was only the beginning of her problems.

* * *

For the next couple of days, Hitsugaya had been true to his words. He kept watch over Aizen like a hawk, catching him should he make any sort of advancements on Hinamori but so far, he hadn’t encountered anything out of the ordinary. Aizen didn’t call out Hinamori’s name during class or instruct her to see him after. In fact, he didn’t even spare her a glance throughout the lesson. But that still didn’t quell his suspicions about the man.

Hitsugaya was right not to let the seemingly innocent façade that Aizen put up fool him for at the end of the day, he was approached by the man himself. He was making his way out of campus after leaving a couple of books in his locker when Aizen incidentally emerged from the staff’s office and bumped into him.

“Ah, Hitsugaya-kun,” he greeted. “Heading home?”

“Yeah.”

“Hinamori-kun is not with you?”

“No, she has prior arrangements. Does she have to be?”

“Not at all. I was just wondering, since the both of you are always together. You two are dating no?”

Remembering the Kitagawa saga and how he was supposed to be Hinamori’s boyfriend, he answered, “Yeah, we are.”

“Hinamori-kun is very fortunate to have you looking out for her,” Aizen commented.

Hitsugaya felt this meeting wasn’t that much of a coincidence after all.

“What do you mean?”

“I heard you’ve been helping her in her studies. I know you’re a top student but bear in mind that your and Hinamori-kun’s academic abilities differ greatly.”

Tch. He didn’t like the way he phrased that one bit. Hinamori was a bright student and Hitsugaya was the exception.

“What’s your point?” he asked warily.

“It would be much appreciated if you’d let Hinamori-kun study independently. I think that is best for her.”

“Hmm…”

He was listening to what Aizen was saying but he was more interested in the well-concealed scratches on Aizen’s neck. He hid them well in his shirt collar but they couldn’t escape from Hitsugaya’s keen eye and to him, they looked suspiciously like fingernail marks. The white-haired student made it a point not to let his gaze linger on the marks.

“I suggest you stop interfering with Hinamori-kun’s academic progress, otherwise—”

“Are you threatening me for helping Hinamori?” he interrupted. There was no time to play games with him; might as well confront him now.

“Of course not. It’s just some advice that would do you good if you heed them. Take care of yourself now, Hitsugaya-kun.”

Aizen didn’t give Hitsugaya a chance to argue as he turned his back and left without another word.

* * *

When Menoly Mallia’s absenteeism continued for another couple of days, Hinamori felt a strong obligation to visit her and pass her the notes and assignments she missed. So she got Matsumoto and Rukia to accompany her to Menoly’s place (because she was apprehensive about going alone). They found themselves waiting for a long moment at her apartment door on an evening that could have been spent on fawning over Matsuyama Kenichi in the DeathNote live-action films.

“Why are we here again?” Matsumoto asked when no one answered the door.

“I told you, we’re here to pass the notes and assignments that Menoly-san missed,” Hinamori said for the hundredth time.

“Yeah, and why are we doing that?”

“Because she was my partner for our last assignment and we ended it on a bad note. Somehow I feel responsible for this…”

“Is she even home?” Rukia questioned and rang the doorbell again.

“She has to—”

Just then, the door swung open to reveal Menoly dressed in an oversized t-shirt and shorts, with her eyes as wide as saucers the moment she saw the three of them standing at her doorstep. She had dark circles under her eyes, her face was pale and she looked weary. In short, she had better days.

“What are you three doing here?!” she demanded.

“We’re just here to pass the work that you missed to you,” Hinamori replied and showed her the folder that contained all the documents.

“Oh…”

“I know our last encounter wasn’t so pleasant and you’ve missed out on many lessons since that day so I feel a bit responsible,” Hinamori explained.

She handed the file to Menoly who looked guilty herself and accepted it with shaky fingers.

“Thanks…I guess.”

“What happened to your wrists?” Rukia suddenly asked, her eyes wide with curiosity and genuine concern.

Hinamori and Matsumoto followed Rukia’s gaze to the girl’s wrists, noticing there were dark red lines circling them. As if she had touched something hot, Menoly retracted her hand as quick as lightning and concealed her wrists behind the folder.

“It’s—”

“Menoly-san! The bruises on your arm haven’t recovered yet,” Hinamori pointed out after noticing that the marks she saw peeking out of her shirt sleeve the last time were still present. “What happened?”

With bruises like that, Hinamori didn’t believe for a second that she had knocked into furniture.

“Ah—”

Her mouth was open but no words came out. It seemed like she wanted to say something desperately but there was an unknown force that prevented her from doing so. She stared at Hinamori wide-eyed and on the verge of tears, her eyes becoming glassy and her bottom lip quivering.

“Are you okay…?” Hinamori asked.

“I—I—”

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: Operation – Initiated_ **


	9. Operation - Initiated

What was supposed to be a simple plan to pass a few notes and homework to a fellow classmate in need turned out to be more than what the three friends expected. They found themselves seated in Menoly’s living room nursing cups of green tea which Matsumoto had prepared for them. The strawberry blonde sat on Menoly’s couch and after surveying the room and its silent occupants, took it upon herself to start the ball rolling.

“You know, if you don’t say anything, we can’t help you.”

“What Rangiku meant,” Hinamori spoke up quickly. “Is that if you’re willing to tell us what happened, we might be able to do something about it.”

“What’s done has already been done,” Menoly said helplessly. “What can you three do?”

“Look, we know we can’t guarantee anything but judging by those injuries and your continued absenteeism, you have to at least inform someone about what’s going on. So why not just start with us?” Rukia reasoned.

Despite making a valid point, Menoly still remained tight-lipped and brought her knees to her chest in defense. She refused to meet their eyes and instead focused her attention on the cup in her hands with a perpetual look of distress on her face.

After several moments of complete silence, Hinamori finally asked softly, “Menoly-san, does this have anything to do with Aizen-sensei?”

The frightened glint in her eyes wasn’t hard to miss. She gripped her cup more tightly and bit her lip.

“What did he do to you?”

Hinamori’s questions struck a chord within her and she closed her eyes and shook her head vehemently, as if trying to chase away the memories that tormented her, but to no avail. Feeling a pang of sympathy for the girl, Hinamori reached out to comfort her. However, that proved to be a wrong move for the moment she stretched her hand towards Menoly, she reeled back in alarm, spilling tea over the couch.

“Don’t touch me!”

Hinamori retracted her hand and could only stare at her in shock and bewilderment which Matsumoto and Rukia mirrored. Menoly’s breathing became ragged and she took deep breaths to calm herself down. The three friends could tell this was more difficult for her than it should be. Unwilling to give up, Hinamori reached out once more and carefully took the cup away. Menoly seemed to have calmed down a bit and allowed Hinamori to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she assured. “You can trust us.”

Matsumoto, Rukia and Hinamori waited patiently as she collected her nerves. Gradually, she managed to stop trembling but she wrung her hands nervously.

“It started around the beginning of this semester,” Menoly started shakily. “I wasn’t doing very well in the module; it was difficult for me to understand the concepts and I was scoring low grades on my tests and assignments. It was more of a problem for me than other students since I’m only taking this module as an elective and I have to pass it otherwise I will be held back.”

She paused and looked at Hinamori hesitantly before continuing, “Aizen…he offered to help me with my studies and thinking it was the perfect opportunity to improve my grades, I accepted. But what he had in mind was completely different…”

She choked back a sob and Hinamori rubbed her hand soothingly across her back.

“Take your time.”

“…During the first few lessons, he was really inappropriate. He—he touched me in places that made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t even learning anything during the tutoring sessions and I realized that he was using me in exchange for high grades…”

“Why didn’t you stop attending the tutoring sessions then?” Matsumoto asked.

“It was too late. I told him I wanted nothing to do with him anymore but he said…he told me that if I stop this, my grades will return to how it was before. I couldn’t let that happen! I didn’t want to be held back where I’ll be all alone while my friends advance into the second year without me. I was so stupid and naïve…I thought there was no way out. So—so it just went on and then…he started demanding more…and—”

Menoly found herself incapable of continuing as the words she so desperately wanted to get off her chest found no escape from her constricted throat.

“Oh my god…” Rukia murmured as she understood the implications behind her words.

Menoly tried to bite back her tears but they wouldn’t stop spilling as she remembered the countless times she felt nothing but helplessness and anguish.

“The bruises on your wrists…”

“T-There were many times I tried to stop him…so he tied up my wrists…”

Hinamori felt a flash of anger course through her veins as she realized that Menoly must have suffered more than she let on judging by the numerous bruises dotting her skin. To think that she had to go through such a traumatizing experience with no one to rely on, Hinamori couldn’t even fathom how much pain she was subjected to. With a new-found determination to help Menoly, she declared firmly, “We can’t let this continue any longer. And not going to school isn’t a solution. We’re going to expose him.”

Matsumoto, Rukia and Menoly were slightly taken aback by her sudden burst of aggression.

“How are we going to do that though? We’ll need evidence,” Matsumoto stated.

“There has to be!”

“Hinamori, don’t rush into it,” Rukia said. “We have to think about this clearly and see what we can do. There’s no point in charging in; it’ll just be dangerous.”

“Umm…”

Menoly’s faint voice interrupted their discussion and they all looked at her in surprise.

“Actually…there were some times when he would record everything down…”

Her voice trailed away as the memories of Aizen instructing her to _“smile for the camera”_ flooded through her mind and she shook her head vigorously in an attempt to get rid of the horrifying memories.

“That sick bastard!” Matsumoto shouted. “There is no fucking way we are letting him off the hook! Hinamori, he could have got you too!”

At Matsumoto’s exclamation, Menoly turned to Hinamori with widened eyes. “I forgot…you were asking me about my grades because you weren’t doing so well…did he…?”

“No!” Hinamori blurted. “I did attend one tutoring session with him, if we can even call it that now. He--”

“He caressed her hand like an old lecher would,” Rukia answered for Hinamori.

“I’m sorry, if only I had warned you earlier…”

“Please don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. And enough about me, we have to find a way to get our hands on the tapes. Once we do, you know what it means right Menoly-san?”

“I’ll have to testify against him,” she answered.

“Yes. I know it seems difficult now but we have to stop this while we still can…”

“Why are you doing this for me?” Menoly suddenly asked, wondering why the hell the three of them were so concerned despite her hostility and apparent indifference towards them in the past.

“Huh?” Hinamori said as if she just asked a question that had a very obvious answer. “Because you’re our classmate right? We’d definitely help you when you’re in trouble. So trust us.”

* * *

“Woah, who knew Aizen was _that_ kind of guy? He sure as hell doesn’t look like he has an age-gap fetish,” Abarai Renji said with his mouth full of karaage.

“Wolf in sheep’s clothing, Renji,” Rukia pointed out.

“He sure got a fleece.”

Renji, Rukia and the other first-years were seated at their favorite spot in Urahara’s Bar with the girls divulging the information they found from Menoly. The guys were let in on the matter as soon as they met up and while they were listening to the three of them taking turns in revealing the scandal, they wore a look of disbelief and took some time to absorb the information. That was with the exception of Hitsugaya of course, whose sharp mind had already connected the pieces of puzzle together.

“Sex for favors huh,” Ichigo mused. “That’s not unheard of, but it’s still unnerving to know that it happened so close to home.”

Hinamori knew exactly what was going on but to hear it so explicitly still sent shudders down her spine. She squirmed uncomfortably in her seat and Hitsugaya glanced at her furtively from across the booth. She hadn’t touched the food at all and he knew the whole situation bothered her greatly; it could have been her after all.

“So what’s the plan?” Renji asked.

“Since we know he keeps tapes of…uh, the ‘sessions’,” Matsumoto began. “We’re going to start by getting our hands on those.”

“How?” Ichigo inquired.

“That’s what we’re here to discuss,” Rukia replied.

Noticing that Hinamori hadn’t said a single word since they finished their recounting the event, Hitsugaya was starting to worry. He opened his mouth to ask her if she was okay but the message alert that rang out of Hinamori’s cellphone interrupted him. She quickly flipped open her cellphone and skimmed through the new message, an expression of trepidation resting upon her already troubled face.

“Oh no,” she bemoaned.

“What’s wrong?” Hitsugaya asked, the tone of his voice more edgy than he expected.

“I just received an email from Aizen-sensei…” she answered nervously.

“What does he want?” Rukia asked urgently but before Hinamori could answer, Matsumoto had snatched the phone away from her and scanned through the email herself.

“That sneaky bastard…”

“What is it?!”

“He changed the location of the so-called lesson!” she replied angrily. “To his apartment!”

“What?!” the rest of them chorused and crowded around Hinamori’s cellphone to examine the content of the email.

_Good evening, Hinamori-kun. I apologize for the short notice but I would like to change the location of our upcoming tutoring session to my place as I have a large collection of resource books and references that we will be requiring for the next lesson. It will be impossible to bring all of them to campus but they will be extremely helpful in your studies. I hope this arrangement will not be too inconvenient for you._

After confirming (and being appalled over the fact) that Aizen apparently had the boldness to actually invite Hinamori over to his apartment under the pretense of being able to provide a more conducive study environment, a heated discussion started among themselves before Ichigo raised his voice to make a suggestion.

“Hold on a minute. This might be the perfect chance.”

“Excuse me?”

“You guys were saying just now that we have to obtain evidence to warrant an arrest right?” Ichigo explained. “Where else would he keep his recordings and tapes besides in his own house? Momo could agree to his arrangement and get the evidence straight from his place.”

“You do know that that’s like sending Hinamori into the lion’s den right?” Rukia countered, even though she had to admit that it was a plan they could consider.

“I know, but—”

“I object.”

Hitsugaya’s icy tone cut through the air and brought everyone’s attention to him. It was the first thing he said with such frightening insistence all evening. “We’re not going to put Hinamori in danger.”

With that all too familiar tone of finality, no one really dared to argue with him. They knew that Hitsugaya’s protectiveness over Hinamori was the most apparent when her safety was in question.

“What do you suggest we do then?” Renji asked.

Frankly, Hitsugaya had no clue. He hadn’t thought about how they could legally steal those files without getting caught. All he was certain about was that there was no way he’d let Hinamori walk right into his trap. So he said the first thing that came into his mind, which was something he did not put much thought into.

“We can just steal it.”

“You mean like breaking and entering?” Ichigo said dully.

“We could get in trouble for that,” Matsumoto stated.

Tch. He knew that! But how could he agree to such a risky plan?!

“I know, but—”

Before he could protest any further, Hinamori cut him off.

“This could work.”

All eyes turned to her and Hitsugaya’s flashed angrily. How was she okay with this?! This was her _safety_ they were putting at risk!

“Ichigo-kun is right. This is the perfect opportunity to infiltrate his place and take what we need without getting into legal trouble,” Hinamori explained in seriousness.

“Stop joking around! This isn’t some simple plan where you just go in and take what you want; are you even considering the danger you’re putting yourself into? You saw what he did to Menoly right? What if—”

“I did!” she argued. “And that is exactly why I want to do this! I can’t sit back and watch when I have the chance to do something.”

The noise coming from the surrounding patrons in the bar was the only sound that penetrated the silence among the six friends. Matsumoto, Rukia, Ichigo and Renji looked between the two childhood friends. It always got weird whenever they witnessed the two of them argue.

Hitsugaya and Hinamori had engaged in a staring contest with the both of them trying to match each other’s glares. But Hinamori’s eyes held a determination (and a hint of imploration) that even Hitsugaya couldn’t beat. Eventually, Hitsugaya sighed in defeat and looked away. He was well aware of how Hinamori would never back down from a chance to help others in need, especially when they were in a dire situation like this.

Seeing Hitsugaya give in, Hinamori smiled apologetically (although she wasn’t at all) and announced, “Then…I’ll reply to his email.”

As she typed away on her cellphone while taking advice from Matsumoto and Rukia, Ichigo and Renji started discussing about how they were really going to execute the plan.

“Details! We need details. How is Momo going to find the chance to search through Aizen’s place without him knowing?”

Hitsugaya wondered if he was going to regret this.

* * *

The college students had been going over the plan till Urahara had to tell them it was about time they head home. Hitsugaya offered to walk Hinamori home, while the rest went their separate ways, agreeing to run the plan by one another tomorrow.

The two friends walked beside each other silently, their minds preoccupied with the same issue but different anxieties.

“I still disapprove of the idea,” Hitsugaya stated, breaking the silence.

“I know. But I’m glad you still going along with the plan.”

“I have to.”

Hinamori frowned at him. “I can take care of myself, Hitsugaya-kun.”

“I don’t doubt that. It’s Aizen I’m worried about. Who knows what he’s got up his sleeves. You have to watch out.”

“Don’t worry! This isn’t even about me. It’s about Menoly-san…I’ve seen her bruises and the marks around her wrists. There isn’t any time to waste thinking about whether we should do this or not. Someone else could get hurt.”

See, that was her problem. She puts others first and neglects her own safety; it was something that Hitsugaya loved about her yet it was one of his main causes of concern.

“I don’t want it to be you.”

“I’ll be fine! I’m stronger than I look!” she answered nervously as Hitsugaya’s words shook something within her.

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: In the Face of Danger_ **


	10. In the Face of Danger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Non-con (but nothing too graphic)

Hinamori fiddled with the device in her ear before quickly putting her hand down, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to be as discreet as possible. She tried to walk naturally and avoid attracting too much attention but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded when she was about to steal some files from her teacher’s apartment so he would land in jail.

As she made her way towards the lift in this rather grand apartment (they had a doorman!), Hinamori listened carefully to what her friends were telling her through the device.

“ _Remember Hinamori, request politely for a drink and accidentally spill it onto him on purpose_ ,” Matsumoto instructed.

The brown-eyed girl frowned; Matsumoto made it sound more complicated than it was. And honestly, they didn’t need to reiterate the whole plan to her again, they’ve done it a hundred times yesterday and the day before. She was crystal clear about what she had to do.

“I got it,” she replied under her breath.

“ _Yeah, you’ll be fine_ ,” Ichigo said. Hinamori could hear Renji’s ‘ _we’ve got your back!_ ’ in the background and she cracked a small smile.

“ _Act natural and if you encounter any problems, we’ll be here._ ”

That was Rukia’s voice. Hinamori wanted to assure them that she’ll be fine and whole thing will work out but she caught herself in time; after all, she wouldn’t want people to wonder why the hell she was talking to herself.

As she entered the lift and pressed the button to take her to the fifth floor, Hinamori couldn’t help but feel a sense of trepidation. She knew her friends were stationed inconspicuously in a (non-existent vermin extermination company’s) van that Matsumoto borrowed from her on-and-off lover, Ichimaru Gin who worked as a private investigator but it didn’t change the fact that she was walking straight into the lion’s den alone. But as soon as she remembered what happened to Menoly and who knows how many other girls, Hinamori felt empowered to execute this plan flawlessly and bring that wolf in sheep’s clothing to justice.

Just then, the listening device crackled and Hitsugaya’s unmistakable voice reached her ears.

_“Hinamori, can you talk?”_

“Mm, I’m in the lift now.”

“ _Listen, be careful okay? If anything happens or it doesn’t go according to plan, I want you to get out of there_ ,” Hitsugaya urged. Being able to only hear his voice allowed Hinamori to notice how much he was worried about her. “ _Scream if you need, I’ll come and get you._ ”

“Hitsugaya-kun, you worry too much,” she assured jokingly. “I told you, I can do this alright?”

“ _Yeah…yeah, you can. Try not to get hurt._ ”

“I won’t.”

Hinamori reached Aizen’s front door and the wave of nervousness hit her again but she kept the support from her friends close to her heart. She rang the doorbell once and waited patiently.

Soon enough, she heard the lock click and the door swung open to reveal the bespectacled man who dressed smartly even though it was his home.

Aizen smiled kindly at Hinamori and greeted her, “Good evening Hinamori-kun. I apologize for making you come all the way here.”

“It’s okay.”

“Please come in.”

“Sorry for the intrusion,” she said, removing her shoes and stepping into his apartment. She had expected his place to be impeccably clean and organized but she was surprised that it felt…homely. The rooms were distinct and the furniture was positioned conventionally. The living room was flooded in bright light, the marble floor was squeaky clean and there were rows of bookshelves lining the wall. It looked so normal that Hinamori almost forgot what she was really here for. She took a moment to drink in the sight before her until Aizen spoke up.

“The study room is this way,” he said before leading the way.

Hinamori looked away and followed after him. They passed by an arbitrary bathroom through the hallway and she felt her heart beat louder as she went deeper into the house. It was silent, even on the other end where her friends were. Indeed, the five friends were listening carefully. There were only three pairs of ear pieces so they had to share. Hitsugaya was frowning and he had clasped his hands as he listened keenly; their voices were soft which forced him to strain his ears a little bit, intent on catching anything out of the ordinary. So far so good, but he knew better than to count his blessings just yet.

Soon enough, Aizen and Hinamori entered a rather large room on the right. Aizen sure had a good taste in style. The petite girl was met with a modern study area; there was a huge desk at the end of the room (probably mahogany) complete with a leather couch and glass coffee table adjacent to it. There was even an expensive-looking carpet in the middle of the room. Again, the wall was lined with a vast array of books which Hinamori presumed was where the supposed reference books were.

“Wow,” Hinamori breathed out. “It’s a nice place.”

“Thank you,” Aizen smiled. “I like to keep up with the latest trends in interior design.”

_“What a pretentious douche. He probably keeps his porn there.”_

Hinamori tried to keep a straight face after hearing Renji’s snarky comment and the fact that Rukia probably smacked him across the head judging from the “ow!” she heard subsequently made it even harder.

“Please have a seat,” Aizen said politely and led her towards one of the swivel chairs. God, this place resembled a CEO’s office so much.

“Would you like something to drink?” he asked her nicely as she sat down and placed her bag on her lap.

“Yes please!” Hinamori answered a little too eagerly.

“Tea?”

“Um, do you have orange juice?” she asked. Matsumoto had instructed Hinamori to request for orange juice instead of tea or water because that was more difficult to wash out and could buy her more time.

“Of course. In the meantime, why don’t you prepare the assignment for me to grade,” he added and left for the kitchen.

 _“Is he gone?”_ Hinamori heard Ichigo ask.

“Yes,” she replied softly after hearing his footsteps fade.

 _“Relax,”_ Hitsugaya’s firm voice crackled through the microphone. _“You’re doing well so far. Just stick to the plan when he gets back.”_

“Okay…”

Hinamori quickly took out the assignment that she kind of plagiarized from Hitsugaya and placed it on the desk. Seeing how she was alone, she took the opportunity to scan the room and search for anything that might help their case. She started with the bookshelf since she was partly curious about what sort of books Aizen read. Hinamori skimmed her fingers over the hard spines of the leather bound books and was disappointed to find that they were mostly reference books and encyclopedias. Well it wasn’t like she was expecting much from a bookshelf.

Just then, Aizen entered the room with a tall glass of orange juice and a coaster. “Find anything useful?”

“Huh?” Hinamori asked wide-eyed.

“The books,” he answered and offered the drink to Hinamori.

“Oh, ah…not really?” she said sheepishly. For a moment, she thought he was onto her.

“You will. Well then, shall we start?”

The young professor strode away and instantly, Hinamori saw her window of chance. Without further hesitation, she followed his direction and slid her foot under the carpet. Using her other foot to step firmly on the carpet, Hinamori suddenly lifted her foot from under the carpet and successfully lost her balance.

“Woah!”

Aizen very timely turned around and was met with a spray of orange juice towards his shirt.

“Oh no! I am so sorry! I tripped…let me get you some tissue…”

Hinamori frantically searched the room for a box of tissues, hoping that her act was convincing enough.

“It’s fine,” Aizen said and stared down pointedly at his stained shirt. “The carpet’s more troublesome than it is; I’ve actually tripped over it a couple of times myself.”

“I’m sorry to have to make you change…you should also rinse the shirt, otherwise the stain will stay.”

“Hinamori-kun, it’s okay. I’ll be back soon.”

As soon as the door clicked shut and Hinamori deemed it safe to talk, she rushed over to the other side of the desk and said, “He’s gone.”

 _“Hinamori that was great!”_ Rukia shouted into the microphone, causing the brown-eyed girl to flinch.

“Thanks, it was kind of embarrassing though.”

 _“Okay, now ransack his desk!”_ Matsumoto exclaimed.

“Right, uhhh…”

She wasted no time in opening his drawers and rummaging through several files, documents, stationery and what-not. But the stuff she found were just that; there were no USB cables or untitled CDs or dubious-looking external hard drives.

 _“Did you find anything?”_ Renji asked.

“No! There’s nothing weird here. It’s all just work-related stuff.”

 _“Hinamori, check his…—ter,”_ was Hitsugaya’s broken message.

“What?”

_“Computer. Check his computer.”_

Thankfully, Aizen’s computer was on standby mode and the screen flickered to life when Hinamori moved the mouse.

“Oh no, it’s password-protected!”

_“Damn it. Okay, listen. Change—…plans…–time. So—”_

“Wait, Hitsugaya-kun, you’re breaking up,” Hinamori interrupted and adjusted the device in her ear although it didn’t seem to do any good.

_“Hinamori? Did you hear—?”_

The electronic device crackled loudly and sent a stinging sensation to her ear, forcing Hinamori to hiss in pain and pluck it out immediately. Sparks flew out of the device and Hinamori knew it was a lost cause.

Shit. She had lost the only form of communication she had with her friends and she couldn’t catch what Hitsugaya was saying at all. It had something to do with the plan…yeah, it was falling apart! Her heart thumped louder with each passing second; Aizen was going to be back soon and she still hasn’t found anything. The pressure was making her blood rush to her head and she couldn’t think straight. How was she supposed to guess what his password was? Maybe—?

“Don’t you know it’s rude to look through another person’s belongings without permission?”

A loud gasped escaped her lips as she tore her eyes away from the screen and saw Aizen leaning against the door frame with a casual yet menacing glint in his eyes, his stained shirt balled in his hands.

“Looking for something?” he asked and took a few intimidating steps towards her, throwing his shirt to the side.

Hinamori’s eyes followed the way his shirt hit the wall and crumpled to the ground. Her fingers froze over the keyboard and she tried to explain herself but what could she possibly say when she was already caught red-handed? That, and the fact that her economics professor was advancing towards her without a shirt on.

“I asked you a question Hinamori-kun. I expect an answer.”

His cold voice sent chills down her spine. It was like his personality just took a 180 degree turn. Instantly, any prior thoughts she still harbored about Aizen being the refined and cultured teacher she knew was erased. She was reminded that this was the man who exploited and manipulated a student who was unfortunate enough to get caught up in his web of deception. This was also the man who tried to do the same thing to her.

It was then Hinamori realized the amount of danger she was in. The plan failed. And she was no match for him; he could easily overpower her. She started to panic as every step Aizen took brought her closer to her demise. Suddenly, Hitsugaya’s words flashed across her mind.

_“If anything happens…I want you to get out of there.”_

His words triggered something within her and she bolted, making a run for the door. But Aizen was quicker. His hand shot out to grab her wrist in a vice-like grip before she could even reach the door. In one strong motion, Aizen flung her towards the couch and she landed on the leather surface unceremoniously. Unwilling to give up just yet, Hinamori pushed herself up but Aizen simply shoved her back down. Her towered over her and trapped her with his arms, removing any means of escape.

“Why the rush? We haven’t even started our lesson yet.”

The smirk on his face made her shrink back into the couch.

“I asked you,” he began and to Hinamori’s horror, swung one leg over the couch to straddle her. In a heartbeat, she was up and struggling against him but to no avail. Aizen pinned down her legs with his and restrained her wrists above her head with one hand.

“Let go!”

“…what you were looking for,” he finished. With his free hand, he held Hinamori’s chin firmly and forced her to look at him.

She met his eyes with defiance and finally answered with conviction that surprised even her, “I know what you did to Menoly-san.”

“You do now?” he asked in amusement. “I hadn’t expected you to figure it out so soon. Did she tell you herself? Well it doesn’t matter, though I would have preferred it if she kept our secret for a little while more. I almost had you.”

Fear and disgust took over her as he lowered his head to her collar and inhaled, causing goose bumps to form on her skin.

“I doubt you’re alone in this whole set-up. I better make this quick then,” he said eerily, smoothly removing his glasses and throwing them towards the floor.

“No!” Hinamori shouted and desperately tried to tug her wrists out of his grip.

“The more you struggle, the more painful it’s going to be.”

He slid one long, slender finger under the hem of her shirt, hooking it over her belt loops.

“S-Stop!”

Hinamori continued to twist her body and fought him as best as she could but she could still feel her jeans sliding down her hips. Aizen brought his lips down to the smooth column of her neck but a thunderous bang stopped him dead in his tracks. He was sure he heard the splintering of wood as well. Within a few short seconds, a figure appeared in the doorway and from where he was straddling Hinamori and he could feel the threat from his unwelcomed visitor.

Hinamori’s eyes widened in shock as she caught sight of the familiar turf of snow-white hair over Aizen’s broad shoulders. Before she could call out or even feel relieved that help was here, the intruder strode over to them in barely-controlled hostility.

“Aizen!”

Reacting quickly, the older man stood up, twisted his body and successfully blocked the punch that he anticipated only at the last minute. Hitsugaya’s strength was formidable and although he hadn’t managed to land a direct hit on Aizen’s face (which was what he planned to do), there was bound to be a bruise on his arm. Aizen stepped back quickly to put as much distance between himself and the enraged teen.

Hitsugaya took this opportunity to pull Hinamori up to her feet while she adjusted her clothes. After confirming that she was unharmed, he brought his attention back to Aizen, who merely looked at them nonchalantly.

“I was expecting you, Hitsugaya-kun; although you arrived sooner than I thought.”

“I didn’t come here to chat,” Hitsugaya snarled.

“Of course you didn’t. Judging from the punch you landed on my arm, I think you came here to more than just ‘chat’…”

“Cut the bullshit. We know everything you did; how you used Menoly to satisfy your sick desires. You’re going to jail.”

“You’re getting a little too cocky aren’t you? In the first place, you have no evidence against me, which I presume Hinamori-kun was sent to acquire?” he taunted.

His eyes flickered over to her and Hinamori matched his gaze boldly.

“Don’t look at me like that Hinamori-kun. It makes me regret not finishing our ‘lesson’ sooner.”

Aizen’s taunting words and leering expression rekindled the rage within Hitsugaya and he launched another attack unto the man without thinking. Instinctively, Aizen dodged the blow to the side of his face and skillfully caught Hitsugaya’s wrist, twisting the white-haired boy’s arm behind his back. Hitsugaya was rendered defenseless in that awkward angle and had no way to avoid the elbow that struck his nose.

“Hitsugaya-kun!” Hinamori shouted when she saw blood dripping down his chin.

“Stay back!” he yelled before she could approach him and cupped his nose in his hand while applying pressure on the bridge in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“Still trying to play the hero?”

Ignoring his sneering question, Hitsugaya charged at him once more, this time calculating his movements carefully. He employed offensive techniques to force Aizen to cross his arms in front of his face as a shield from Hitsugaya’s punches. Without missing a beat, Hitsugaya leaned back slightly and delivered an upper-cut but stopped right before his fist connected with Aizen’s chin. Caught off guard, Aizen lowered his arms and Hitsugaya grabbed this chance to turn around, delivering one strong kick towards the man’s gut.

Aizen stumbled backwards and clutched at his stomach, his other hand gripping the edge of the table for support. _Now_ he was properly riled up; his eyes sparked with interest and an intrigued smile hung around the corners of his lips. Pushing himself away from the table, he advanced towards Hitsugaya who didn’t seem to be backing down any time soon. Aizen took slow, deliberate steps towards him, ready to show exactly who the master was in this petty game but the unmistakable siren alarms ceased his movements. His dark brown eyes widened just a fraction as the sirens grew louder and louder.

“You didn’t think I’d come alone did you?” Hitsugaya smirked.

If he was panicking, he sure concealed it well. He had been careless to overlook the possibility that they might have involved their friends in this. With reinforcements on their way, the situation wasn’t in his favor at all.

“Tch.”

“Give it up. If you don’t resist and turn yourself in, they may give you a lighter sentence,” Hitsugaya told him sardonically. It wasn’t as if he wanted Aizen to get a lighter sentence after all. Unbeknownst to him however, the cunning man was furtively reaching for something behind his back.

“There’s no way—”

Aizen’s sudden launch at the white-haired boy cut him off in mid-sentence. Holding a pen-knife in his hand, Aizen charged at Hitsugaya with a wild look in his eyes as desperation gradually drove him to the edge. But his plan to fatally wound Hitsugaya was thwarted when deft hands shot out to hold his wrist in place, forcing his elbow into a painful angle. To Hitsugaya’s surprise and worry, Hinamori had stepped forward in the nick of time to save him from harm. However, her strength proved inferior compared to Aizen’s, who turned the tables by wrenching her hands away to free his wrist and wasted no time in lashing out at Hinamori, forming a clean cut on her forearm.

“Shit!” she swore as blood dripped down her arm in thick rivulets.

On instinct, Hitsugaya stepped in front of Hinamori protectively and wrestled for the pen-knife. His strength matched Aizen’s and it became a battle for dominance. Their tussle momentarily distracted Aizen from the blaring sirens that approached his apartment and by the time he noticed the shouts emitting from his living room, he knew his chances of getting away were slim. His mind went into overdrive as he desperately tried to come up with an escape plan. Seconds before the authorities arrived in his study room, Aizen delivered one last kick to Hitsugaya’s torso, putting all his strength into kneeing him.

The teen doubled over and clutched at his stomach, allowing Aizen to stake everything on this fleeting opportunity. He swung himself over the table and without a moment’s hesitation, fled through the window, stunning both Hitsugaya and Hinamori as they were on the fifth floor. Hitsugaya dashed to the window ledge as the police rushed into the study room a little too late. He seriously considered pursuing Aizen but lost sight of the man in the dark and found no way to reach the bottom without at least spraining his ankle if he jumped like Aizen did. How the hell did he manage to get away so quickly?

Suddenly remembering that Hinamori was hurt, he brought his attention back to her. There were already a couple of policemen tending to her and were prepared to lead her out of the apartment but after seeing Hitsugaya kneel down beside her with a pained expression on his face, decided to allow them some time alone. She was holding a handkerchief that one of the officers provided her with in place and Hitsugaya gingerly peeled it away to examined the cut on her arm; it wasn’t deep but it was long and the blood hadn’t stopped flowing.

“I’m fine,” she told him automatically and although she kept a straight face, her childhood friend knew it hurt like hell.

“I’m sorry,” was the only thing he managed to say.

“Don’t be. You saved me you know,” she reminded him and settled her good hand over his, giving him a wan smile which Hitsugaya was unable to reciprocate.

Before he could say anything else, one of the officers called out to them.

“It’s time to go,” he informed them and helped Hinamori onto her feet. The two childhood friends barely spared the room another glance as policemen cordoned off the crime scene.

* * *

“Here, put this on your nose,” Kurosaki Karin instructed and handed a pack of ice to Hitsugaya.

He mumbled his thanks as she left to help her father, whom Hitsugaya was more concerned with since we was the one stitching Hinamori up. But his worry was unnecessary; although Kurosaki Isshin was an eccentric man who didn’t act his age, he was still a proficient doctor who carried out his job seriously.

Upon reaching the ground floor, Hitsugaya and Hinamori reunited with their friends. Matsumoto and Rukia flipped when they saw the bloodied handkerchief Hinamori was pressing to her wound. Their fussing over her was interrupted when an officer told them not to worry as he was calling the medics. Ichigo had told them it was unnecessary as his father’s clinic was not too far away. The officer studied Hitsugaya and Hinamori briefly before deciding the arrangement was alright since their wounds were nothing fatal, but took down their particulars to call them in for further questioning, which was how the six friends found themselves in Kurosaki’s Clinic ten minutes later.

“That should do it,” Isshin announced and checked Hinamori’s bandage one last time. “Honestly, what are you kids up to these days? Staking out, infiltrating a teacher’s apartment and getting all banged up in the process. If you want to play detective, take it upon yourselves to be more careful.”

With those unconventional words of advice, the man left the ward with his daughters in tow. Hinamori found it cool that he didn’t reprimand them and even encouraged them in a sense. But that was what one would expect from the Kurosakis; they were never your regular Japanese family.

“Thanks for letting your father treat us, Ichigo-kun.”

“It’s no big deal, especially after what you did,” Ichigo replied. “And how this crazy dude practically rushed up there without thinking twice. I thought _I_ was the impulsive one.”

Hitsugaya shot him an irritated look but said nothing otherwise.

“We’re just relieved you two are okay,” Rukia added. “This plan was more reckless than we thought.”

“It didn’t go according to plan though; I didn’t manage to get what we needed,” Hinamori admitted guiltily.

“Are you kidding?” Renji piped up. “The police are probably hacking into Aizen’s computer now. They’re going to be able to access all the evidence they need.”

Hinamori smiled gratefully; he did have a point.

“You two did good,” Matsumoto said and slapped a hand to Hitsugaya’s back with a little too much force. “Well then, we’ll leave you two for now. Come on guys, let’s get the van ready.”

In a matter of seconds, Hitsugaya and Hinamori were alone in the ward.

“Before you say anything,” Hinamori started. “I just want to say that I know you told me this was a bad idea and that we shouldn’t do it but everything turned out fine right? And no one else is going to get hurt anymore.”

“I wasn’t going to scold you Hinamori.”

“You’re not?”

Hitsugaya sighed. “No. What’s the point when it’s already been done? Besides, you’re okay now so just forget about it.”

Hinamori fell silent and fiddled with her bandages. “I was scared you know. When he held me down, I thought I was really done for.”

He was slightly taken aback by her sudden confession. He put away the ice pack and eyed her intently, waiting for her to continue.

“That’s why…I’m really glad you were there.”

Hitsugaya didn’t know how to respond, in the first place, he wasn’t expecting such a confession from her. He wanted to tell her that he was scared as well; if Aizen had done anything to her, he couldn’t imagine what he would’ve felt. He wanted to tell her he was more than just glad she was okay and really, that’s all that matters to him. Instead, he only managed a pathetic “Y-Yeah, no problem” and turned a little red when she smiled appreciatively.

“Come on, let’s join the rest,” she said and headed out.

Yeah, it was a bad idea but after all, the best stories start with the worst ideas.

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: A New Threat?_ **


	11. A New Threat?

It’s been a whole week since the fiasco with Aizen ended. Well, it wasn’t completely wrapped up because the cunning man managed to flee and was currently in hiding. The authorities had yet to ascertain his location and apparently, they weren’t doing a very good job at it. It was either that, or Aizen was simply excellent at concealing himself. The gang wouldn’t be surprised if it was the latter. The good news was, his computer did indeed contain the evidence needed to convict him. Authorities found footage of his numerous trysts that were certainly enough to put him behind bars for more than a few years. The six friends were brought to the station for questioning and fortunately, didn’t get into too much trouble. Their coup made the headlines but none of their identities were revealed, much to Hinamori’s relief. Her parents would freak out if they ever found out she was involved in such a thing. She planned to hide it from them for now, after all, she found it unnecessary to worry her parents who were busy working in Tokyo.

The news spread around campus quickly and students speculated who were involved in the scandal and subsequent operation to expose Aizen. Like most gossip, the speculations died down during the week and most of them went about with their campus life as usual, with the occasional small talk about Seireitei College’s tainted reputation. Hinamori found out that Menoly had transferred out of the college and was accepted into Hueco Mondo Academy, which gave her an opportunity to start afresh. Before she completely disappeared from their lives though, she thanked Hinamori and the rest for helping her out. Being a recipient of such sincere gratitude, Hinamori had no doubt that it was all worth it.

With Aizen gone, a new teacher replaced his position. Seireitei College employed a man named Hirako Shinji, who had straight blonde hair that made the girls go green with jealousy, beady eyes and the straightest set of teeth anyone could have. He had re-graded Hinamori’s tests and assignments and to her delight, told her that her work deserved at least a ‘B’. A couple of them were even ‘A’ grade-worthy. She was over the moon knowing that she wasn’t actually that lousy at the module and with how everything was finally smooth-sailing, Hinamori pushed the loose ends with Aizen to the back of her mind and soon forgot about it altogether.

On a rather chilly Friday night, Hitsugaya finally got around to washing the dishes after procrastinating for a couple of days as he let the sound of the prime time news on television drift into the kitchen. He finished cleaning the last of the dishes as the commercials started and looked around blankly to survey his house, searching for something to do. But the house was clean, the laundry was already hung out to dry and the dishes were done. Hitsugaya sighed; it could be very uneventful living alone.

He suddenly thought about his grandmother, whom he used to live with before moving to Karakura. If it weren’t for the top-notch education that Sereitei College offered, Hitsugaya would’ve stayed with her. She had been the one who took care of him for most of his life; ever since he lost his parents at a young age, his grandmother had assumed the role of a parental figure. He came from a wealthy family, which was why he could afford such an apartment but he knew better than to squander the family wealth. He wanted a good education, a high-paying job and ultimately, to support his grandmother like how she had supported him. Damn, he missed her. Maybe he should give her a call.

However, his musings were interrupted by the doorbell and Hitsugaya wondered who it could be. Without peering through the peephole, he opened the door for his unexpected visitor who started talking the moment he showed his face.

“Hi! Sorry to disturb you at such a time…”

“Hinamori…?”

“You know, I haven’t properly thanked you yet.”

Knowing exactly what his childhood friend was talking about and despite feeling surprised at the abruptness of her visit, he replied, “Actually, you have.”

“But not with your favorite dessert!” she chimed and lifted a small cake box with a giant smile.

Hitsugaya eyed the sweet-looking confectionery through the clear plastic and indeed, it was the watermelon cheesecake from the popular patisserie a couple of streets away; his favorite. He couldn’t help but smile slightly at her.

“Come in.”

“Sorry for the intrusion!” she said politely and hurriedly removed her shoes to step inside. “There was a sale at the store and since today is one of the rare days where they still have stock for the watermelon cheesecake, I thought I should get you some. I also got myself the chocolate soufflé. We can share okay?”

“Ah…thanks,” Hitsugaya said and watched as she trotted into his kitchen and took out two sets of cutlery.

If he was being truthful, he’d say he was a little glad that she was here. Okay fine, _very_ glad that she was here. After all, it wasn’t often that he got the chance to eat his favorite dessert. Besides, it was always nice to have Hinamori around. Though it was true that he was an introvert and generally preferred to be alone, Hinamori’s presence was something he didn’t avoid. In fact, he welcomed it. He continued watching her as she busied herself in his kitchen. The way she was so familiar with where everything was would make one assume that she lived with him in this house.

In a few short moments, Hinamori was setting the cakes on the coffee table and kneeling on his carpet, motioning him to do the same. She favored eating in his living room instead of the dining room because it felt more casual and natural. The soft carpet was a bonus. Hitsugaya settled himself across from her and they both dug into their desserts.

“Itadakimasu!”

“Itadakimasu.”

Normally, Hitsugaya would wrinkle his nose at even the mention of desserts but this was a different story; this was watermelon cheesecake. The soft, fluffy texture of the cake appealed to his taste buds and the sweet burst of watermelon flavor left him eager for more.

“It’s good.”

“Right?” Hinamori replied happily.

Hitsugaya was almost done with his watermelon cheesecake when he looked up to see that Hinamori wasn’t even halfway through her chocolate soufflé. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy it; she enjoyed all kinds of pastries thanks to her sweet tooth. Hinamori simply loved to take her time savoring every single bite of her dessert which Hitsugaya found rather endearing. Unknowingly, his gaze landed on her mouth and he noticed the way her lips skimmed over the piece of soufflé before consuming it entirely and how her pink tongue would peek out to wet her lips after every few bites.

Quite abruptly, Hitsugaya said, “Hinamori, how long are you going to do this for?”

Hinamori returned his steady expression with a perplexing look written across her face. “Do what?”

 _Being all adorable and alluring while eating your soufflé, that’s what._ “You come into my house, treat me to my favorite dessert, tempt me with the way you eat and that’s it?”

The dark-haired girl’s eyes widened. “What…do you mean?”

“I mean…I feel neglected.”

His bold declaration caused the blood to rush to her cheeks. “You…”

“It’s been more than a week. Could it be that you have already forgotten about our arrangement?”

“I haven’t…”

Of course she hadn’t. In fact, it had crossed her mind a couple of times but she didn’t expect Hitsugaya to initiate it. He didn’t wait for her to elaborate and instead got up to make his way to her side. He offered his hand to her, which she accepted in puzzlement but without complaint. Helping her up, Hitsugaya guided her to take a seat on his couch as he kneeled in front of her.

“I don’t know if I can control myself any longer,” he whispered and tilted his head up so that their faces were mere inches apart.

“You don’t have to,” she answered simply and closed the gap between their lips.

Hitsugaya almost, _almost_ smirks when she kissed him out of her own volition but instead channels his delight into deepening the kiss. He only allows a brief contact of their lips before pulling away slightly to drag his tongue over her bottom lip and sucking on it. He knows what to do to get what he wants and she knows exactly what he wants. She doesn’t waste a second to give him what he seeks because what do you know, they both want the same thing. So she gladly opens her mouth to meet his tongue with hers and oh, how could she have abstained from this for so long?

He could taste the chocolate on her tongue just as she could the tangy watermelon flavor on his, but not quite in the same way. Hitsugaya delves his tongue deeper into her mouth as he fervently chases the natural taste of his friend under all that chocolaty goodness while she compliantly rides on the waves of pleasure he initiated. His current position was beginning to strain his neck so he pushed himself off his knees, breaking their kiss but remaining a close distance to her lips. As he stood up, he noticed that Hinamori had grabbed a fistful of his shirt, lips parted and eyes staring back at him with giddy desire. It sent his blood rushing south and as he towered over her, Hitsugaya grabbed her chin and tilted her head to meet his expectant lips. With her mouth already parted, it was easy for him to slide his tongue against hers, resuming their make-out session.

When they finally broke apart for air, Hinamori let out a tiny whimper at the absence of his lips. She hadn’t meant to make such a noise; it just…came out. It made her blush and Hitsugaya smirk and he pushed her down to lie on the couch. Leaning down, he started his quest to cover her body with his kisses by licking the spot beneath her ear. Within their first couple of times having sex, Hitsugaya had already discovered a few of her sweet spots and her right ear was one of them. She especially liked it when he nibbled on her earlobe, which was what he was doing now.

Moving down, he placed quick kisses on her jawline and collarbone. Remembering that today was a Friday and there would be no school tomorrow, he deemed it perfectly fine to give her a hickey. So he settled his lips over the base of her neck (where she was very tender) and sucked. He didn’t care that he was making really loud sucking noises because it earned him a very satisfied moan from his partner. As he switched between licking and sucking (he decided not to bite today), he felt her fingers tightening around his hair and pulling slightly, an indication that she was enjoying it. When he felt that he had left a nicely-formed hickey, Hitsugaya leaned back to survey his handiwork.

“You just…marked me,” Hinamori stated huskily. She wasn’t so much incredulous than she was aroused. “How did we manage to stay away from this for more than a week?”

“I don’t know, but I’m glad we’ve resumed our arrangement,” he replied and pulled his shirt over his head.

Hinamori let out a laugh and followed his lead, unbuttoning her shirt and with his help, successfully shrugged it off. Another thing that Hitsugaya found rather endearing was that Hinamori had more patterned underwear than plain ones. Today, her bra was polka-dotted. Hoping to speed things up a little bit, he brought his lips down to hers once more and kissed her while he slid his hand under her back and worked on unhooking her bra. She busied herself with removing his pants and they slipped off his hips easily. The moment Hitsugaya removed her bra to join the pile of clothing on the floor, he covered her breast with his hand, causing her to shiver at the touch of his cold fingers.

She moaned into his mouth at his ministrations and automatically reached down to get rid of his boxer briefs. Her fingers brushed against his erection and she felt him buck against her. Detaching his hand from her breast, he moved down to fumble at her skinny jeans before locating the zip. She shimmied out of them and kicked them away and Hitsugaya wasted no time in slipping two fingers into the hem of her underwear and removing that as well. She was laid out bare on his couch now, her long hair splayed over his cushion; the sight she presented fuelled his arousal. He gripped her hips and pulled her rather roughly towards him.

A mischievous glint shone in his teal eyes and he dove down to capture her nipple with his mouth, swirling his tongue over the hardened peak. It elicited another sensuous moan from her and Hitsugaya decided that her moans would never not be music to his ears. The tip of his hardened member teased her entrance and he could feel the liquid heat she emanated; purely on instinct, he rocked his hips against her.

“Ah…! W-Wait…”

He stopped his ministrations and looked at her with concerned eyes.

“Condom…” she breathed out.

“Right,” his voice came out deeper and throatier than he intended. Stretching out above her, Hitsugaya reached over to the side table at the couch and fished out a condom from his wallet. He placed it between his lips and tore the packet open, rolling it on with ease. Hinamori didn’t have to wait long before he was attacking her lips again, their tongues meeting even before their lips connected.

He didn’t think he could handle not being in Hinamori any longer, so when she hooked her ankles behind his back and brought him closer, Hitsugaya rocked against her. He entered her slowly, still wary of the possibility of hurting her even though they’ve been through this more than once. But she told him to ‘hurry up’ and that needy voice was all it took for him to throw his inhibitions away. Maintaining a steady pace, he moved within her, reveling in the sensation of her walls closing around him. He was vaguely aware of her light pants and the pleasure he felt increased when she tightened her legs around his waist. He picked up his rhythm; every thrust was harder, deeper and closer to sending them over the edge but not yet. Hinamori’s nails dug into the skin on his back as she felt him pull back and fill her once again. God, she could never get tired of this. One particularly hard thrust ripped a very audible cry from her and she arched her back off the couch, desperately curving her body towards his.

Aware that she was this close to coming and knowing that he wasn’t far behind, he delivered a few more strong thrusts and she was coming within moments, her first waves of pleasure coursing through her sweat-leaden body. As the walls of her center contracted around his member deliciously, Hitsugaya felt the pleasure build up and finally released itself in her still-throbbing center. He didn’t realize he was panting this hard until he fell on top of her boneless but not completely spent. Her legs loosened their grip around his waist and her fingers were no longer digging into his skin.

Slowly, he pulled out of her and she made a noise in the back of her throat at the sudden emptiness. Pushing himself off her, Hitsugaya removed the condom, tied it and tossed it to the ground, making sure it didn’t fall onto the carpet. He’ll clean it up later. For now, he figured he’d admire the way her body looked after a round of good sex, with her swollen lips parted and chest rising up and down as she tried to catch her breath.

“For the record,” she began. “I wasn’t trying to tempt you, that is really how I eat.”

“Then we have a problem,” he said and grinned.

* * *

Hitsugaya shut his locker door with a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. He was in a good mood throughout the day despite having more assignments to complete, courtesy of Kurotsuchi-sensei. The events of last night (and Saturday night, _and_ Friday night) were still fresh in his mind and it was a miracle how he did not get a raging boner during his classes. It was refreshing to finally experience such pleasure after abstaining for so long (well, it wasn’t _that_ long). He wasn’t getting any tonight though because Hinamori was busy relieving a friend for a dance class which was quite a number of train stations away.  No matter, it was the breaks between sessions that made the next one even more enjoyable.

As he prepared to leave campus, a voice called out to him. Turning in the direction of the voice, Hitsugaya caught sight of a familiar face.

“Hey!” the figure greeted. “You’re Hitsugaya right?”

“Yeah. You’re…Kurosaki’s sister?”

“That’s right. Kurosaki Karin,” the black-haired girl introduced.

“Hitsugaya Toushirou,” he replied out of politeness. “Did you need something?”

“Ah, could you give me directions to…the interactive labs?” she asked.

“That’s in the east wing,” he answered. “Just walk in and once you reach the clock tower, take a right and keep—”

Upon seeing the girl’s concentrated and rather confused look, Hitsugaya sighed inwardly. “Um, I could take you there.”

“That would be much appreciated,” Karin said gratefully and followed after him. “Sorry for troubling you. I tried contacting my brother, but he isn’t answering his phone.”

“It’s fine.”

They were quiet until she asked, “So how’s your injury?”

“Oh, it’s healed. It wasn’t that serious anyway.”

“That’s good. It’s kinda admirable. What you did.”

“He got away though.”

“Still, you forced him into hiding. That counts for something.”

“Thanks, I guess. By the way, why do you need to go to the interactive labs?”

“I’m here for a school project actually. I need to interview someone who had experience in the public sector and Ichi-nii said he knew a teacher assistant here who used to be a librarian…‘Nanao Ise’ was the name he gave me.”

“I see.”

Hitsugaya was familiar with the name. Nanao Ise was Kyouraku-sensei’s assistant. He’d been mentoring her for the past few months and even let her teach a couple of his classes. He thought she was a little dry in her teaching but rather effective. Being a T.A. suited her more than a librarian, in his opinion.

“We’re here,” Hitsugaya announced as they stopped at a corridor of rooms labeled ‘ITL’. “This is lab 1 and lab 5 is at the other end.”

“Thanks! See you around Toushirou!” Karin said and waved goodbye, jogging down the corridor.

Hitsugaya was surprised at how casually she addressed him and attributed it to the fact that she was Kurosaki’s sister. The college student made his way out of school again and this time, was stopped by Matsumoto Rangiku.

“Who’s the chick?” she asked out of nowhere.

“Matsumoto…don’t just appear behind people.”

“So who’s she?” she ignored him and asked again.

“Kurosaki’s sister. I thought you’ve seen her before.”

“Ohh, that’s her? I couldn’t tell from where I was.”

“Where were you anyway?”

“Other side of the block.”

“How did you get here so fast?”

“Aww, I wanted to catch up to you before you left,” she blonde replied jokingly. “Let’s go home together!”

“We don’t even live near each other,” Hitsugaya said as a matter-of-factly.

“I can go over to your place for today.”

“No.”

“Why not? Is it because your place is reserved only for Hinamori-chan?”

“Shut up Matsumoto.”

The older woman laughed heartily. “Just kidding! So how about my place then?”

“Get lost.”

“You’re so cute when you’re annoyed Captain.”

* * *

It turns out Hitsugaya wasn’t about to get any action for a few more days because Hinamori had extended her stay away from Karakura due to unforeseen (and rather urgent) circumstances. It wasn’t exactly necessary for her to do so but since she had no pressing assignments or projects due, she didn’t mind helping her friend a little while more. Besides, the college didn’t really care if you attended class or not, as long as you hit the minimum requirement for advancement. It was fine though, because it wasn’t as if Hitsugaya was looking forward to having sex with his best friend.

As a result of her absence, Hitsugaya found himself leaving the school premises alone on more than a few occasions. Coincidentally, he left campus whenever the familiar black-haired Kurosaki girl entered. The first time they met again, she told him she remembered the way to the labs and they parted without saying more. The second time he saw her, she had that same look of confusion (and exasperation?) and he found out she was trying to look for the teachers’ block, which he had to admit, can be very troublesome to find. So he led her there and she thanked him sheepishly. She seemed to visit the college an awful lot for a project and he asked her why that was. Karin told him Nanao was kind enough to offer her more academic help which proved useful in her future college applications.

The third time they met was more eventful, so to speak. Hitsugaya was tasked with locking up the discussion room that he and a few classmates had booked and was on his way to returning the keys when he overheard a conversation that alternated between provocative voices and disgruntled retorts. He recognized that boyish voice and didn’t have to turn round the corner to know who it belonged to. But he did anyway, because it sounded like she was being harassed and though Hitsugaya had no intention of assuming the role of a knight in shining armor, he couldn’t turn a blind eye.

Right there in the middle of the hallway, were two lanky (presumably) third year seniors that Hitsugaya didn’t recognize blocking Kurosaki Karin’s path. They grinned creepily at her and whispered something that he couldn’t catch but knew was something crude judging by the look of disgust on her face. It was uncultured people like these two that brought shame to Seireitei College’s name.

“I’d advise against demonstrating your pedophilic streak here,” Hitsugaya said without preamble, grabbing their attention immediately. He saw her eyes grow wide at his sudden appearance.

“Piss off short round, don’t come ruining our fun,” the taller one said.

“Oi!” Karin shouted, ready to gut him in the stomach but Hitsugaya cut her off.

“Are you too hopeless in picking up girls your age to have to resort to targeting a high school student? What are you, 25?”

“Fuck you! We’re 23!”

Hitsugaya stared at him humorlessly. How did he even manage to enroll into this prestigious school?

“We don’t even have to deal with you right now,” the other one side and advanced towards Hitsugaya who, of course, was already on the defense. But that proved unnecessary because a strong leg shot out and sent a flying kick to the lanky senior’s shin.

Howling in pain, he grabbed his (definitely bruised) shin and spouted a string of curses. Before either of them could retaliate, Karin grabbed a hold of Hitsugaya’s wrist and took off. The latter was caught off guard by their speedy escape but kept up with her. God, she was fast. They sped down the hallways and it didn’t seem the two seniors were catching up at all. Must have been a powerful kick.

Once Karin was sure they weren’t chased, she stopped and caught her breath while laughing heartily. “Did you see his face?! It was priceless! Now I wish I hadn’t bolted so quickly.”

“That was an impressive kick,” Hitsugaya commented once she settled down.

“Yeah? I just treated it like a soccer ball. By the way, thanks for the help but I could have handled it myself.”

“I don’t doubt that,” he said. “Word of advice: you might want to avoid the seniors’ block; weird stuff goes on around there.”

“Right, thanks…”

“See you around then,” he said and headed off to return the keys as soon as possible. He thought about how he was going to be a little late and hoped that Hinamori wouldn’t mind. Today was the day she came back and he planned to pick her up from the train station. He didn’t want to seem like he was very eager, but school without Hinamori was more boring (no, not everything was about the sex).

After determining where she was, Karin continued on her way to her destination. Although she certainly didn’t need help dealing with her harassers, it was still nice to have someone defend you. As her mind replayed the incident, she couldn’t help but notice that Hitsugaya had such cold fingers.

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: Assertion_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes a new set of obstacles! Don’t you love it when they don’t end? For the record, I don't hate Karin, I just couldn't find a more suitable character for the role and I didn't want to create an OC.


	12. Assertion

"Hinamori.”

“Yeah?”

The hazel-eyed college student didn’t spare her friend a glance as she busied herself with returning a bunch of reference books to the library, counting silently while she dropped off each book.

“Don’t you think you need to put a tighter leash on your…on Captain?” Matsumoto Rangiku asked out of the blue.

The sixth and last book disappeared down the drop-off box and Hinamori looked at her weirdly.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you think Captain is getting really close to Ichigo’s sister?”

“Ichigo-kun’s sister? Which one?”

“Ah, so you don’t know…”

“Know what?”

Hinamori’s curiosity was properly aroused now, thanks to Matsumoto’s deliberate beating-around-the-bush and withholding information from her. She always had a way of prolonging suspense.

“Apparently, Kurosaki Karin has been dropping by our school pretty often recently. Heard it was for a project or consultation or something.”

Hinamori didn’t know how to react to that; was that piece of information supposed to incite some sort of special response from her? It didn’t seem like big news to her at all. She stared at Matsumoto and waited for her to continue, in case there was something that she had missed in her friend’s words.

“While you were out of town, they’ve been spending quite some time together,” she added, rolling her eyes because she had to spell it out for Hinamori.

“Okay, so?” she questioned. She still didn’t really see the point. “It’s not as if they’re together.”

“They’re well on their way to be.”

Hinamori was skeptical for two reasons. One, Matsumoto had a penchant for exaggerating, if not distorting facts, and she presumed that the situation wasn’t exactly what Matsumoto made it out to be. Two, Kurosaki Karin was not Hitsugaya’s type. If he even had a type, that is.

 “I’m not kidding!” Matsumoto protested, as if she had read Hinamori’s mind. “They seem pretty close now. I’m just saying that you probably have to keep an eye out if you want to save your sex partner.”

“First of all, Hitsugaya-kun won’t fall for anyone that easily, let alone someone he just met,” she reasoned. “Secondly, even if he did, why would it matter? The whole point of our arrangement is to satisfy certain…physical needs without any restrictions. He’s free to cut the deal and pursue a serious relationship with someone else whenever he wants. That’s the flexibility of our relationship.”

Matsumoto seemed to give it a lot of thought before she bent down to Hinamori’s level and practically said to her face, “Do you think so? Do you _really_ think that way?”

“Y-Yes,” she stammered, uncomfortable with the sudden close proximity of their faces.

“Well if you ask me,” the blonde said abruptly. “I honestly think you have nothing to worry about.”

“That’s not what you—”

“You see, although Kurosaki may be interested in Captain, according to my super sharp senses for such details, he doesn’t seem the slightest bit interested in her, at least in _that_ way. So I conclude that it’s a one-sided infatuation.”

“Rangiku-san…”

“Ah ah, I’m not done,” she interrupted again. “The second part of my conclusion is that you are giving him some really good sex to be able to keep him as your friend with benefit for this long.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel good.”

“Seriously though, what kind of sex are you giving him?” she interrogated.

“We are not having this conversation,” Hinamori stated firmly and briskly walked away from her probing friend.

“Come on! You’re going to have to tell me sooner or later! I will find out!” Matsumoto shouted after her.

* * *

Turns out Matsumoto’s words held some truth in them as Hinamori discovered the next day. Out of sheer coincidence, she stumbled upon Hitsugaya and Karin in one of the college’s outdoor study areas while she was on her way out of school. They were sitting at the wooden tables and from afar, it seemed harmless enough; like two acquaintances having a friendly chat. But as she watched them (she couldn’t help it), she could’ve sworn she saw a smile playing at the corner of his lips. It surprised her really, because it was the familiar smile that she’d like to think only she knew. It was the look he gave when he was enjoying something but didn’t want to admit it.

Before Hinamori could mull over it, the black-haired Kurosaki let out a laugh as she threw her head back, peering at Hitsugaya with crinkled eyes when he said something that was too soft for Hinamori to catch. She suddenly felt curious and left out, even though she had no right to be. But the way they were so at ease with each other stirred something in the pit of her stomach and it made her feel weird all over. Eventually, her curiosity, amongst other emotions she didn’t feel like identifying yet, got the better of her and she willed herself to approach them despite the intrusion.

As she drew nearer to them, she caught more of their conversation.

“What do you mean hockey is better than soccer?!” Karin exclaimed in disbelief.

“I didn’t say it was better,” Hitsugaya replied. “I just said I prefer it to soccer.”

“Well you should try it then. I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy it. You’ll probably be good at it too.”

“What makes you think…Hinamori, what are you doing here?”

His attention diverted to the college student and his eyebrows rose at her unexpected appearance. If only Hinamori wasn’t too caught up in staring (furtively, of course) at Hitsugaya’s apparent new friend, she would have noticed the way his teal eyes lit up for just a fraction of a second at the sight of her.

“I was…just passing by,” she answered lamely. “Sorry if I’m interrupting.”

She suddenly felt very foolish for killing their conversation like that.

“That’s okay,” Karin said and stood up. “It’s about time for my consultation. I’m Kurosaki Karin by the way. You’re one of my brother’s friends right? I think I’ve seen you before.”

“Ah, yes. I’m Hinamori Momo. Nice to meet you.”

“Same here. I have to get going, see you around. Don’t forget about my offer, Toushirou.”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied and waved as she slung her bag over her shoulder and jogged off to the staff offices.

Once Hinamori was sure she was out of earshot, she gave Hitsugaya a questioningly look and said humorously, “’Toushirou’? I didn’t know you two were that well-acquainted with each other.”

“We’re not.”

“She just called you by your given name.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s a Kurosaki thing.”

“You two seemed rather close though.”

At that, Hitsugaya eyed her dubiously. “What’s your point?”

“Nothing,” she said hastily. “It’s just an observation. Let’s go.”

He followed after her as she briskly walked towards the school gate, half-smirking at her futile attempt to hide her obvious embarrassment. Hinamori decided to dismiss the informal way Karin had addressed him but she couldn’t ignore the ‘offer’ that she mentioned. What offer? Did she arrange something with him? Was it a date?

She immediately shook the thought out of her head. Nah, their relationship hadn’t reached a point where they started initiating dates…right? Even if it did, Hitsugaya wouldn’t say ‘yes’ to dating her…right? Oh god, all this uncertainty was making Hinamori even more curious about what this ‘offer’ was but she couldn’t find it within herself to actually ask him about it.

Her mind soon drifted off to Matsumoto’s words the day before. Did she really have to keep a tighter leash on—wait up, the whole point of being friends with benefits was so they could have sex whenever they want and stop whenever they want without any hard feelings. If she did “keep a tighter leash” on Hitsugaya just because he seemed to be growing closer to some other girl, wouldn’t she be contradicting her words? And she certainly didn’t want to appear clingy…but they had only taken up the friends with benefits status for hardly a couple of months and to Hinamori…well, it could go on much longer than that.

Truthfully, she didn’t want to give him up just yet. They’ve barely begun this arrangement and there were still many _things_ they could try to _enhance their experience_. It was too early to end it. Hitsugaya’s prowess in the bedroom (or anywhere they had sex really) was making this difficult for her. She didn’t want to give the impression that this whole thing was a big deal to her and it was totally fine if he wanted to break it off but at the same time, she wanted to continue having sex with no strings. Granted, it made her sound like a highly sexually-charged college student but frankly, it was one of the better decisions she made and she wasn’t about to let it be over that soon.

So yeah, she was determined to keep up this special arrangement for just a little while more.

* * *

Of all the times they had sex, Hitsugaya can be sure of the familiarity of their routine and roles. He is also grounded by the normality of Hinamori’s disposition when they fuck. She is shy and compliant and sometimes playful but she is never bold. She doesn’t take charge nor does she dominate and Hitsugaya finds this perfectly alright with him because he likes the way she responds so blithely under his fingers and lips and how she yields to his ministrations. If he were to describe Hinamori, he would use the metaphor of a hibiscus. (She wasn’t like a rose. No, roses are too bold. Hibiscuses are softer and lighter. Hinamori’s beauty isn’t sensual, it is delicate.)

But his preconceived notions about her bedroom behavior are thrown out of the window when he finds himself pinned under her weight, her legs straddling his hips and her bum settling nicely over his groin. They were clad only in their underwear and Hitsugaya makes a note on Hinamori’s maroon panties and coral blue bra. But her mismatched undergarments are disregarded when she rocks her hips against his, creating a delicious friction through the fabric of their underwear.

“Fuck…Hina—”

Hitsugaya loses his speech capabilities for a moment when she repeats the motion and causes him to gasp. When Hinamori leans down, he catches a glimpse of the satisfaction of dominance that flashes in her eyes. She starts to plant open-mouth kisses below his earlobe and down his neck, nibbling at the skin when she finally reaches his collarbone. His hands find their way up her sides and slides across her back to unclip her bra but she moves away just as he was fingering the clips.

She does so deliberately and excruciatingly slowly, baring her body to the boy pinned under her. His eyes follow her movements as she leans back and puts her hands on his hips, holding him in place. He sure as hell doesn’t miss the way her breasts move under her bra and for a second, he wants to reach out and release her from its confines but he settles with being held down and letting her do the work. Hinamori doesn’t disappoint (and in fact, rips the air out of his lungs) when she looks him dead in the eye and _grinds_. The motion brings him close to the edge and with the iota of comprehension he still has, he notices the wetness that seeps through her underwear. Which also means she can feel his hardened member and it did nothing but fuel her arousal.

Thoroughly charged, the suddenly-feisty college student bends down once more and kisses him with an aggression that surprises them both. They gasp in to each other mouths and fingers are flying, eagerly removing whatever clothes that separate them. After that it is all hot and heavy and _mindless_ and Hitsugaya realizes he kind of enjoys it when she tops sometimes.

* * *

A dull soreness was throbbing within her lower regions when Hinamori woke up at 6am that morning. She found herself wrapped cozily in Hitsugaya’s blankets and remembered the way she fell on top of her best friend when she came, and that was only the first time. Minutes later, when she was still panting and trying to steady her racing heartbeat, Hitsugaya flipped them over and proceeded to kiss her hungrily. She blushed at the recollection and turned over to see that Hitsugaya was still sleeping soundly. It was in the wee hours of the morning after all. Hinamori was surprised she even woke up this early, with last night’s exhaustion and sleep-inducing bed and all.

Finally gathering the motivation to get out of bed, Hinamori slowly slipped out of the covers, careful not to wake her sleeping partner. As she tip-toed around the room to pick up her strewn clothes, she thought about the way she practically rode her best friend for the first time. True, she was trying to give him a night to remember, the best sex he ever had and hopefully leave him yearning for more, knowing that it was her who could only provide such a rollercoaster ride. That much she’ll admit. She would admit that she was simply not ready to give her sexual partner up. Call it selfish desire or whatever, but there was no denying that this arrangement between them was divine. She won’t, however, admit that she felt threatened, and maybe a little jealous of Hitsugaya’s budding relationship with the Kurosaki twin.

Hinamori successfully convinced herself that she felt this way not because she actually _liked_ Hitsugaya, but because she wanted to maintain her friends with benefits status with him for a little longer.

Yeah, that’s it.

The hazel-eyed girl left the room quietly once she finished getting dressed and after writing a short note for Hitsugaya, exited his apartment with a smile.

She could still make it to school on time if she hurried.

* * *

“Hey. Hey! Toushirou!”

Looking across the street, Hitsugaya was met with a waving Kurosaki Karin. She checked the road before crossing over and greeted him with a grin.

“You’re headed to the college?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “It’s my last time there though. What about you?”

“I’m heading to the dojo for practice.”

“Ah…I see.”

Karin looked around nervously before blurting out, “By the way, are you free this Friday? I have a friendly match with some of my high school friends and we’re missing one more person so I thought maybe you could join us. I doubt you’ll think it’s better than ice hockey, but it’s a good chance to see if soccer’s your thing. No harm trying right?”

She ended off her invitation with a hopeful grin.

“Sorry, I already have plans on with Hinamori this Friday so I won’t be available.”

Karin looked a little crestfallen at his reply but covered it up with an understanding expression. “There’s no helping it then. Maybe next time!”

After saying their goodbyes and concluding their short exchange, Hitsugaya continued on his way to the dojo. Okay, so he didn’t exactly have plans with Hinamori on Friday. Yet. He was going to make plans with her, or rather, he assumed they would be having plans that day. It had been a week since they last went at it (and it was very memorable) and since they usually met up on Fridays, Hitsugaya just presumed Fridays were their unspoken agreement to keep up their arrangement. He had a feeling they were going to be up to something unconventional which frankly got him a little more excited than usual. So he wasn’t going to miss that for a sport that he knew wouldn’t be as exhilarating as ice hockey (heck, he wasn’t even sure if he would miss that for ice hockey).

On the other hand…Karin was feeling a little down that her invitation was rejected. After all, it was her last time at Seireitei Academy and she didn’t want to it to be the last time she saw Hitsugaya Toushirou as well. She also couldn’t help but feel curious regarding his relationship with Hinamori Momo. From the times she met the girl, she could tell they were close. But was there something else going on between them? They gave off such a weird vibe and she couldn’t put her finger on why that is so.

Her purely coincidental meeting with the aforementioned girl did nothing to clear her doubts. Really, she hadn’t counted on coming face-to-face with Hinamori Momo at the bus stop after she was done at the college. She had arrived earlier than the brown-haired girl, who rushed to take shelter from the pouring rain. She was considerably drenched by the time she was safe from the rain and seeing Karin stare at her in mild surprise caused her to stare back in sudden recognition.

“It’s you!”

“Yeah…hi.”

“Ah! Good evening,” Hinamori greeted back hastily when she realized she was a bit rude. Embarrassed, she tried to dry herself by wiping herself down with a piece of tissue that did practically next to nothing.

“Um, do you need a towel or something?” Karin offered.

“It’s okay! I’m fine!”

Their silence continued after Hinamori was done and it was beginning to make her feel awkward. Deciding that it was only polite to initiate small talk, Hinamori asked suddenly, “So how are your consultations going at the college?”

Karin hadn’t expected her to strike a conversation but she replied nonetheless, “They’re okay; Nanao-san was very helpful. But today was my last day; I’ve more or less got what I need.”

“That’s good to hear. So how do you find the college?”

“It’s not bad; great facilities and there’s even a superb field. Though I did get into a little trouble with some harassing seniors. I hope not all seniors from Seireitei are like that.”

“I assure you they’re not. You were just unfortunate to meet the bad bunch. But…you handled them right?”

“I could have, but Toushirou showed up and helped.”

Hinamori laughed softly at that, to which Karin raised her eyebrows to. “Yeah…Hitsugaya-kun always appears at the right time.”

The conversation ended abruptly there and there was a moment of silence before Karin spoke up. “Speaking of which…what’s your relationship with Toushirou? I mean, you two are always together…are you guys dating?”

_He’s the guy I sleep with on a regular basis._

“No we’re not. We’re childhood friends.”

Well, theoretically they’re supposed to be dating since they claimed to be after the whole Kitagawa incident. But Hinamori didn’t see a need to lie to the girl.

“Oh, I see. You both seem awfully close.”

_In more ways than one._

“Yeah, we are.”

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: Not Going to Lose You Now_ **


	13. Not Gonna Lose You Now

"Rangiku-san, please tell me again why I am here.”

“You’ll know in a minute.”

Hinamori sighed for the tenth time that day and allowed herself to be dragged by her friend down the grandstand. After much pushing and squeezing, the two finally found a couple of seats at the side, with Matsumoto suspiciously casting occasional glances at something in front.

Once they were seated comfortably (or as comfortable as they could in a crowded stadium), Hinamori asked, “So what’s this all about? Why did you drag me to a soccer match all of a sudden?”

“Okay, you see,” Matsumoto started.

“What the hell are you guys doing here?” a familiar voice interrupted.

Matsumoto and Hinamori turned simultaneously and met face-to-face with none other than Kuchiki Rukia.

“Rukia! You’re here too?!” Hinamori shouted over the din.

Matsumoto snapped her head back nervously to the front and smacked a hand over Hinamori’s mouth. “Shh!! Rukia, get over here!”

She reached out and grabbed Rukia’s wrist, bringing her down to squeeze with them on the too-cramped seats.

“Wait—what the hell?!”

Matsumoto let her eyes slide back to the front not so furtively and Rukia followed her gaze, realization dawning upon her as she saw what, or rather who, the blonde was looking at.

“Oh…so you two are spying on Hitsugaya,” Rukia stated in amusement.

“Hitsugaya-kun is here too?!” Hinamori exclaimed.

Rukia pointed to the front and sure enough, Hinamori caught sight of the turf of white hair popping inconspicuously from the crowd. Hinamori also noticed that a certain short-haired girl was sitting on his right. In fact, it seemed like the whole Kurosaki family was there as well. Sighing, Hinamori turned to her friend with a questioning stare.

“Rangiku-san, do you mind explaining to me what you were up to?”

“First of all, we are not _spying_ , as you so eloquently put it Rukia. We are merely observing. Secondly…I had free tickets to the game!”

Her hazel-eyed friend just shot her a look that told her she wasn’t buying any of that bullshit.

“How did you know Hitsugaya-kun was going to be here?” Hinamori interrogated.

“I may have had a glimpse of his phone…by accident?”

“Rangiku-san, you can’t just go snooping around other people’s phones!” she scolded.

“Okay okay, but the issue at hand is why Captain is here in the first place. With the Kurosaki family no less. And Rukia. At a game he doesn’t even enjoy,” Matsumoto countered cleverly.

“Karin invited him,” Rukia answered, noticing that Matsumoto gave Hinamori a ‘told-you-something’s-up’ look. “She had extra tickets so Ichigo invited me and Karin invited Hitsugaya. I think he was going to decline but Ichigo kinda dragged him in.”

“Ichigo sure knows how to ruin things huh.”

“Ichigo-kun isn’t ruining anything,” Hinamori started. “I can’t believe you dragged me here just to spy on Hitsugaya-kun!”

“Oh come on, you’re concerned about what’s going on between them! I know you are. One might even say you’re worried.”

For a split second, Hinamori wondered if Matsumoto actually knew about what she did in an attempt to keep him (she cringed inwardly at the thought). But she realized she couldn’t have known. “I am not. I told you, what Hitsugaya-kun does with his…love life doesn’t concern me.”

“Will you look at that,” Matsumoto said and directed her gaze to the two in front. Hinamori followed suit. “What a budding relationship.”

Hinamori witnessed Karin leaning close to Hitsugaya and lifting her hand to Hitsugaya’s ear. She spoke into his ear so that he could hear her over the din. Unknowingly, the white-haired boy tilted his head toward her and she had a genuine grin plastered over her face. Hinamori told herself she wasn’t bothered by it, but the flash of uneasiness that crossed her features betrayed her.

“It’s his business,” she finally said.

“You can fool yourself, but you can’t fool me!”

When Hinamori remained quiet, Rukia suddenly spoke up, “Well I guess I’m heading back now.”

“Nah uh, you’re with us now,” Matsumoto said and pulled Rukia’s wrist just as she was about to get up.

“Wha—no! Ichigo will wonder I went.”

“Just text him that you have the runs or something.”

“I’m not doing that.”

* * *

In the end, the three of them watched the soccer match without discussing about Hitsugaya or Karin. Matsumoto was rooting for the Urawa Red Diamonds while Rukia was cheering for the Kashima Antlers. Hinamori was leaning towards the Urawa Red Diamonds but she couldn’t help sneaking a couple of glances to the two in front every now and then. It was frustrating to say the least; it was distracting her form the otherwise exciting J. League match.

When the match ended in Urawa Red Diamonds’ favor and spectators were pouring out of the stadium, Hinamori wasted no time in leaving the place, forcing Matsumoto to follow her. Rukia had already returned to Ichigo who didn’t seem very convinced with her excuse. Meanwhile, Matsumoto had to visit the washroom urgently and made Hinamori wait at the exit, much to her reluctance. She really just wanted to leave.

Hinamori was left tapping her foot impatiently when five minutes went by and Matsumoto was still not out. She was about to head to the washroom to check what was taking her friend so long when the two people she wanted to avoid caught her eye. They were standing pretty close to each other but Hinamori was too far away to see what they were doing. It’s not like she cared right? But Matsumoto still hasn’t come out yet. And they were just _there_ , it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek. Against her better judgment, Hinamori left her station to get a better look at the pair.

When she managed to get a closer view after maneuvering around lamp posts and dustbins, Hinamori maintained her position behind an inconspicuous pillar. She took a peek and pushed the thought of being stalker-ish to the back of her mind. As she watched the two at the pavement, it seemed harmless enough. They were just…talking. Probably about the game because Karin looked a little excited. Hinamori wondered if she was going to ask Hitsugaya out again. Just as she saw the white-haired boy open his mouth to say something, a car stopped in front of them, blocking them from Hinamori’s view. In her haste, she left her hiding spot and craned her neck to get them in view again but when the car finally whizzed by, Hitsugaya was nowhere to be seen.

“Eh? Where did he go?”

The university student looked left and right, trying to get sight of her best friend but to no avail.

“What are you looking for?” a voice behind her asked.

“Hiyaaah! Hi-Hi-Hitsugaya-kun! You scared me!”

He was half-smirking but he tried to hide it. She was kind of cute when she was flustered. “So? What were you looking for?”

“N-Nothing.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” he asked further.

“I’m here for the game,” Hinamori answered a little too quickly.

“You don’t even like soccer,” Hitsugaya stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

“You’re one to talk,” she countered.

She got him. Hitsugaya was rendered speechless for a split second as surprise crossed his features. “Kurosaki invited me. I tried to decline but Ichigo that dimwit dragged me in.”

“Rangiku-san got free tickets to the game so she invited me,” she replied, avoiding looking at Hitusgya directly.

“I know what you two are up to, you know,” he said after a brief pause.

“You do?! I mean…we’re not up to anything…”

“Hinamori, you’re a terrible liar. I saw you two behind us and—”

“Okay okay! You don’t have to continue,” she interrupted, thoroughly embarrassed. “I admit, part of the reason why we’re here is because of…because of the two of you.  Although this wasn’t my idea! I had no clue you were going to be here.”

“I know.”

“I know it seems a little—wait, you know?”

“Yeah, I saw Matsumoto sneaking around with my phone and it’s no surprise that she can be nosy at times; it’s only natural that she’d follow us when after finding out I was going to the game with Kurosaki.”

“Oh…”

It seemed to Hinamori like a cat has got her tongue. She never expected to bump into Hitsugaya nor did she expect him to know that much already.

“You don’t have anything to worry about,” he said simply.

“Huh?”

“I know what this is about. You’re worried that I’m getting to close to Kurosaki right? And if I’m not wrong, you feel a little threatened?”

Sometimes, Hinamori hates it when Hitsugaya manages to see right through her and read her like an open book.

“Although I see no reason to be worried or threatened at all,” he continued.

“It’s just that you two got really close…”

“There’s nothing going on between us.”

He seemed so earnest that Hinamori felt bad about getting needlessly worried over the whole incident and following him and doubting him. “I’m sorry, all of this is just so uncalled for…”

She wanted to say that she’ll make it up to him somehow but she noticed someone had her attention on them. Kurosaki Karin was watching them furtively from the roadside. And all of a sudden, Hinamori knew how to end this once and for all. Without further hesitation (lest she changed her mind), she stepped closer to Hitsugaya and pressed her lips firmly to his in a chaste closed-mouth kiss. It was short, but she knew it was enough to send the message across.

“What was that for?” Hitsugaya asked, resisting the urge to lick his lips.

“Just a final safety measure,” Hinamori replied cryptically and flashed him an innocent smile.

* * *

“Karin! There you are! I was looking for you. Let’s get going before Dad starts attracting unwanted attention,” Kurosaki Yuzu called out. “Hm? Karin?”

Yuzu turned her eyes to whatever Karin was staring so intently at and saw Hitsugaya following after Hinamori.

“Oh, Hitsugaya-san is leaving already?” she asked. “So did you manage to ask him out again?”

“Nah. And I don’t think I will,” Karin answered sensibly. “It seems he’s already preoccupied with someone.”

Yuzu gave her a confused look. “Preoccupied…with someone?” As her gaze followed Karin’s lingering one, she noticed something that she had missed. Hitsugaya was smirking behind a blushing Hinamori before catching up to her and saying something that flustered her.

“Oh…ah, Karin! Don’t be sad!”

“I’m not sad!” she exclaimed and stalked away to find their idiotic father.

* * *

It took one text message to relay what happened to Matsumoto and the intuitive girl didn’t even need to read between the lines to know that all was well again. It seemed like everything turned out better than she expected. Locking her home screen, Matsumoto smiled to herself and started to make her way home. Looks like her work here is done.

It took a simple “do you want to just…hang out?” to end up crashing at Hinamori’s place watching the Blu-Ray version of an episode of Shingeki no Kyojin. Hinamori didn’t realize how much she missed this, just hanging out as friends. She made a mental note to this more often.

“Armin!!”

Hitsugaya flinched at her exclamation. He never understood her reaction to that scene (there was no way Armin was going to die that early into the series), especially when they’ve watched this episode before.

“Hinamori, why are you shouting? You know what’s going to happen to him.”

It was only after Eren saved Armin from the titan’s mouth that Hinamori finally answered him. “I bet you’d do that too if it was Levi.”

“…No, I won’t.”

So Corporal Levi was his favorite character, it didn’t mean he’d turn into a loud fangirl and fawn over humanity’s strongest soldier. Besides, he was way too skilful to have anything dire happen to him. The two friends lapsed into silence, simply enjoying each other’s company and another nerve-wrecking episode until the ending song played.

“So…Hitsugaya-kun, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“What exactly was going on between you and Kuroksaki?”

Hitsugaya raised his eyebrows at her but decided that this could clear the air. “She’s an acquaintance who addressed me too informally for my tastes and was a little too eager with asking me out.”

Hinamori couldn’t respond to his straightforward answer for a moment.

“…You know she had a crush on you right?”

“Of course.”

He wasn’t an idiot. He knew she was into him but he thought he made it clear that he wasn’t interested.

“So why didn’t you accept her advances?”

“She’s not my type.”

Hinamori laughed in amusement at his response. “What is your type anyway?” she asked, not really expecting an answer and not realizing that he was giving her an involuntary once-over in the midst of her mirth.

“I don’t know,” he answered genuinely and there was even slight confusion written over his face.

Hinamori also didn’t expect him to give her a serious answer, as if he actually thought about it. She found it endearing it somehow and bumped him lightly on the shoulder.

“You’ll figure it out,” she assured him, her eyes crinkling at the sides as she smiled.

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: The Fight_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Matsumoto’s OTP is HitsuHina. Also, those are real Japanese soccer clubs that participated in the J. League. I’m not sure if they have ever competed against each other before though.


	14. The Fight

Mid-semester break rolled around and the six university students found themselves separated during the vacation. That was with the exception of Ichigo and Rukia who spent their break at Rukia’s hometown (needless to say, Byakuya was there but he was mostly at his wife, Hisana’s, side so it was still bearable for Ichigo). Renji needed some extra cash so he took up numerous odd jobs near school while Matsumoto…well, Matsumoto was pretty vague about where she was going but she did mention she was going to be out of town, probably with that mysterious boyfriend her friends rarely saw her with.

As for our protagonists, Hitsugaya left for Tokyo for an internship at the company his parents used to work for. The Hitsugaya family were major shareholders and made substantial contributions to the company, giving the last descendent a favorable image and an easy opportunity to work for them. Hinamori on the other hand, went back to their high school to teach dance lessons. After the favor she did for her friend the previous time, Hinamori realized how much she liked to teach, especially when she saw her students mastering the steps and executing the routine impeccably.

Although the six friends were away from each other throughout the vacation, it didn’t stop them from contacting one another and updating each other on what was going on regularly. Hitsugaya and Hinamori sent text messages to each other almost every day, with Hinamori voicing her envy over Hitsugaya’s job in Tokyo (Tokyo, for Christ’s sake!) being a usual occurrence. Occasionally, Hinamori would send short clips of her students dancing to Hitsugaya, proudly stating how talented her students were. If Hitsugaya was lucky, he’d receive clips of Hinamori herself dancing and that never failed to put a smile on his lips after a particularly stressful day at work. In return, Hitsugaya would send pictures of the scenic Tokyo to Hinamori, knowing full well that her eyes would light up.

They settled into a nice routine being apart, with neither of them mentioning the fact that they were missing each other’s touch. Just a little bit. But Hinamori’s time was so packed with dance lessons that most of the times, she forgot about how much she craved his touch. As for Hitsugaya, it wasn’t so much of thinking about it than it was being reminded of it. That’s right, he was constantly reminded of the fact that Hinamori was not with him in Tokyo and therefore, there was no gorgeous body for him to worship with his lips.

The source of the reminders came from, much to his displeasure, a bimbotic receptionist who kept trying to get into his pants. She was a brunette (obviously dyed) and every time she flipped her hair over her shoulder in an attempt to capture his attention, Hitsugaya was reminded of Hinamori’s darker tresses and the way they splayed over his pillow when he undid her ponytail. Whenever she fluttered those long eyelashes at him over the desk, he thought about Hinamori’s hazel eyes and how they lit up so naturally whenever she was in a good mood. He wondered if she was in a good mood today. And don’t even get him started on the receptionist’s (what was her name again?) indecent habit of squeezing her shoulders in so that her breasts popped out more. Sure, she had cleavage and a good set of boobs on her chest but they wouldn’t fit into his hands as perfectly as Hinamori’s did.

It was a dilemma no doubt. Not only was he harassed by this over-zealous receptionist, he was constantly reminded of the lack of sex, to put it bluntly. Although, Hitsugaya could sleep with her (or anyone else actually) if he wanted to, since there were no obligations between him and Hinamori. Yet the thought of doing that repulsed him somehow. Which was why he counted the days till he was back home.

* * *

The semester resumed and the six friends found themselves back in Karakura. Hinamori was rummaging through her locker to prepare for the first class when she heard a low voice beside her.

“Nice hair-cut.”

She jumped a little and swiveled to face the owner of the voice. “Hitsugaya-kun, you frightened me!”

He merely smirked at her and when she realized he had just complimented her new hairstyle, she replied shyly, “Thanks. You like it?”

“Yeah. You look cute.”

Hiding her blush under his gaze, she fiddled with her short hair self-consciously. “You got yourself a hair-cut too,” she pointed out, studying the way his hair was shorter at the back and how his fringe was longer now that it was swept to the side. “It’s nice.”

“Thanks. I didn’t think it would turn out like that, but I find that I like it,” he said. “You know, I’ll miss your long hair.”

“I thought you like my new hair-cut.”

“I do, it’s just that I like the way your long hair looked on my pillows.”

“Hitsugaya-kun!” she exclaimed, surprised that he would say such an inappropriate thing so mildly and smacked him lightly on the shoulder.

Ignoring her look of surprise (which he found was rather endearing) with amusement in his eyes, Hitsugaya turned and made his way to class. “Let’s get to class.”

* * *

“You…have no idea how much I missed this,” Hitsugaya said breathily into Hinamori’s neck as he peppered open-mouth kisses on her skin.

Hinamori chuckled lightly before answering, “I think I do.”

She relished in the way Hitsugaya desperately clung to her body as he licked and sucked on a particular spot on her neck. When his kisses became more intensive than persistent, Hinamori whispered, “You’re going to leave a mark if you keep doing that.”

Hitsugaya merely let out a “hm” dismissively, indicating that it was exactly his intention. He sucked at her tender skin between his lips and only stopped when he was certain a reddish mark was bound to appear. Tilting his head to the side and surveying his work, Hitsugaya gave her a satisfied smile.

He had to look up at her a little because the couple found themselves in the kitchen, with Hinamori sitting on top of the kitchen counter, her legs securely wrapped around Hitsugaya’s waist. It was amazing what could transpire when all she set out to do was make hot chocolate for the both of them.

The hot chocolate seemingly forgotten, they kissed again, thankful for the brief period of separation because it only meant the next time they had sex again was going to be more intense than before. Hitsugaya’s hands moved down to unbuckle his belt and broke the kiss for a moment. While fumbling with his belt and fishing out a condom from his pocket, he noticed that Hinamori was wearing a skirt and he thanked the frozen heavens for that. He tugged at her skirt and Hinamori was tactful enough to lift her bum so that her skirt was out of the way. As he pulled down her panties and she kicked them off to the floor, Hinamori shivered noticeably when her bum made contact with the cold counter top.

“You okay?” Hitsugaya asked while tearing the packet open.

“I’m alright,” she replied, eyeing him as he slipped it on. She didn’t take her eyes off his member until he lifted her chin to kiss her.

“Don’t stare,” he whispered into her mouth.

“Sorry…I can’t help it.”

He was simply joking because honestly, he couldn’t be bothered if she stared or not; he was confident enough of his own endowments. But trust her to take his words seriously and be self-conscious for him. Growing impatient, Hitsugaya pulled her closer and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist more tightly.

As they broke apart in anticipation, Hitsugaya filled her slowly at first. Hinamori bit her lip as she tried to accommodate him, and the slight pain gave way to pleasure in a moment’s time. That same pleasure intensified as Hitsugaya pulled out and pushed in again. He did slowly not only because he didn’t want to hurt because, but also because he wanted to savor the way she tightened around him, all warm and wet like how he remembered.

“Faster…please…”

He gave her exactly what she wanted by thrusting into her, picking up speed as he felt his own climax coming. With Hinamori clutching his shoulders and moaning into his ear, Hitsugaya was encouraged to thrust deeper and faster. As they embraced the wonderful friction it created, their shouts of climax bounced off the walls of Hitsugaya’s kitchen.

* * *

Hitsugaya and Hinamori’s special arrangement continued for another couple of weeks and every time they laid on whatever they were having sex on, basking in their afterglow, they thought about how sex with no strings was really the best. No commitments, just mind-blowing sex.

But alas, that was exactly the amount of time it lasted for. Because just 2 weeks after the semester started, Hitsugaya and Hinamori had a falling out.

It happened one fateful night when Hinamori was over to watch more Shingeki no Kyojin episodes with Hitsugaya and also eat the dinner he so rarely prepared for others. Honestly, it was actually such a great day so far until the 6 o’clock news broadcasted a report on a wanted criminal on the run.

Hinamori was flipping through the channels and chanced upon the news report while Hitsugaya prepared the curry rice for the both of them.

_“Ogura Hidezaku is wanted for fraud, embezzlement and several counts of sexual indecencies. The 46-year-old man was set to appear in court at 1:15pm for trial this afternoon but never turned up. Authorities have confirmed that he has…”_

“Come to think of it…” Hinamori started. “Aizen-sensei hasn’t been apprehended yet…”

“Yeah, I wonder if those authorities are even doing their job,” Hitsugaya said.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of whether or not the authorities are doing their job. Aizen-sensei is an intelligent man, he probably has many ways to evade the police. He got away when he was against the 2 of us and the rest as well, and we also called the authorities for help.”

Hitsugaya wrinkled his nose and frowned. “He got away not because he was smart. It was because we couldn’t stop him. The plan we had was a bad idea from the start.”

“What choice did we have? We had to get into Aizen-sensei’s apartment, and the only way—” Hinamori said.

“You could have left it to me,” Hitsugaya said curtly.

“You could’ve have done it alone!” Hinamori stated, her voice rising. They both knew this argument was getting out of hand but neither of them had any control over their escalating emotions.

“You couldn’t have done it alone either! You’re too weak!” Hitsugaya shouted. “And stop calling him Aizen-sensei! He isn’t your sensei anymore! Stop being so infatuated with him, it’s pathetic.”

Hitsugaya knew without a doubt that he had struck a raw nerve, for the house grew uncomfortably quiet despite the sounds from the television and Hinamori looked at him with hurt-filled eyes. Immediately, Hitsugaya was hit with a pang of guilt; he didn’t mean to sound so harsh. Everything just…spilled out.

“I may be weak…but I don’t need you to protect me.”

As Hinamori picked up her belongings and left, she missed the pain reflected in Hitsugaya’s own teal eyes.

It was actually such a great day…until the 6 o’clock news broadcasted a news report on a wanted criminal on the run and left Hitsugaya with 2 uneaten plates of curry rice.

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: Hard to Keep Up_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel that this makes a good reason to fall out because they are both targeting something that each considers important to them. In Hitsugaya’s case, his need to protect Hinamori/his pride and in Hinamori’s case, her weakness. In previous versions, the fight was actually about something more superficial.


	15. Hard to Keep Up

If getting an ‘A’ in Kuchiki Byakuya’s class was difficult, you should see Hitsugaya and Hinamori abstaining from having sex with each other.

The two of them haven’t been talking to each other ever since the fight. The silent treatment was a cruel thing, and the both of them are beginning to see the consequence of a falling out. Especially Hitsugaya, who was constantly regretting saying those insensitive and hurtful words to Hinamori. It wasn’t even about the deprivation of sex anymore, it was about hurting his best friend. And he wished he could take those words back.

It wasn’t easy dealing with the guilt. A long time ago he promised never to hurt her in any way but now Hitsugaya realized that broken promises were unavoidable. Not to mention the fact that everywhere he looked in his house, he was reminded of Hinamori. Not just Hinamori in general, but how she fits on his couch when he’s on top of her, how her back arches off the floor when he pushes deep inside her and how her gasps echo in the kitchen when he was fucking her on the counter top. All of it was just making it worse.

He wanted to apologize, but he couldn’t bring himself to face her with all the guilt and shame swimming in his head. Every day in school they would avoid each other and every day after school they would go home separately. Sometimes he would catch a glimpse of her while she wasn’t looking, and he could still detect a trace of sadness and hurt in her eyes. He would remember how his words cut through her and all at once, his guilt was renewed. It was draining.

Eventually, their friends grew sick and tired of witnessing their gloomy faces and them avoiding each other. They were respectful enough not to pry if they didn’t confide in them but this was it. They had enough of watching them dance around each other when it was clearly making them suffer. So, they decided to make them spill the beans over what exactly happened.

* * *

Ichigo’s and Renji’s talk with Hitsugaya was surprisingly met with little resistance. The white-haired youth merely sighed, not in irritation but in dejectedness, and told them what had happened days before.

“Why would you say even that to her?” Renji asked after listening to Hitsugaya.

“I wasn’t thinking okay?” Hitsugaya said curtly. He didn’t want to involve them in this whole disaster but he knew it was inevitable.

“Well that’s a first,” Renji retorted.

Hitsugaya glared at him but said nothing, there was nobody to blame for his thoughtlessness except himself.

“You’re sleeping with her aren’t you?” Ichigo stated. “Won’t that complicated matters?”

There was a pause before Hitsugaya answered solemnly, “We’re not…sleeping together anymore.”

“That’s it?” Renji asked. “You guys just quit?”

“Well, you don’t expect her to continue sleeping with a guy who just accused her of still being a little in love with a respectable teacher-turned-criminal do you,” Hitsugaya snapped.

“Then,” Ichigo cut in. “What are you going to do about it?”

“Apologize,” Hitsugaya responded without hesitation.

“What’s stopping you?”

 _“My shame”_ , was what Hitsugaya admitted inwardly but he simply shrugged.

* * *

“Are you still mad at him?” Rukia asked.

“Yes,” Hinamori answered immediately but found herself not really believing it. “A little…I’m not so much as angry as sad. I guess I just feel hurt…I never thought he would say such things to me.”

“You stepped on dangerous ground after all,” Matsumoto said without thinking.

“What do you mean?”

Rukia shot her a warning look and Matsumoto hastily replied, “I mean, Captain probably still blames himself about letting you get hurt so when you said that you didn’t need his help, you wounded his pride.”

“Oh…no wonder he’s so angry and refuses to talk to me.”

Rukia and Matsumoto shared a look of relief but before they could offer any words of encouragement, Hinamori said, “It still doesn’t give him the right to accuse me of being infatuated with Aizen. That’s rude.”

“I’m just going to be blunt here,” Rukia piped up. “Either one of you initiate something to solve your problem or the both of you are going to have to continue avoiding each other awkwardly and never reach a resolution.”

It took a moment before anyone said something. Matsumoto broke the silence first.

“Was that how you dealt with Ichigo when you guys fought?”

“If you must know, yes.”

“You’re right, Rukia,” Hinamori confessed. “It’s tiring to keep avoiding him and it’s not worth it to strain our friendship over this. But how am I supposed to approach him when he’s so mad at me?”

“Trust me Hinamori, he is not as angry as you think he is,” Matsumoto assured. “Besides, I think you two just need the right opportunity to thrash it all out. Remember we have that career seminar-slash-fancy function coming up? We’re all seated at the same table so there’s no way for any evasion. Do it then. Before or after I mean, not during the seminar.”

“And make sure he apologizes,” Rukia reminded.

Hinamori nodded her head seriously and hoped that it would all go well.

“In the meantime, do you want me to get you a vibrator?” Matsumoto offered.

“No!”

* * *

Two days before the seminar, Hinamori contemplated on finding Hitsugaya and fixing the little issue they had instead of waiting. However, she couldn’t seem to get a hold of him. He was so elusive, always leaving the class as soon as it ends and when he left, she couldn’t find him anywhere.

Hitsugaya could tell Hinamori was trying to approach him but he didn’t want a confrontation in school. That, and although he wouldn’t admit it, he still hadn’t found the resolution to face her yet, which is why he was being as evasive as possible. Running away from his problems, that’s what it’s called.

Only when his classes ended could Hitsugaya relax. It was a long school day but unbeknownst to him, it was far from over. First of all, Ukitake-sensei requested his help in returning a stack of books he used during class to the library which he couldn’t refuse because the poor teacher was under the weather for a few days now. Second of all, he was cornered by a senior in the restroom.

If it were a guy looking for trouble, it would simply be annoying and he could deal with it without breaking a sweat. But it was a girl and she was looking for something much more than trouble. She had entered the men’s restroom unabashedly and locked the door behind her while Hitsugaya was washing his hands. When she advanced towards him with a seductive glint in her eyes and hips swaying slightly, he knew he was going to have to spend some time getting himself out of this. He cursed that he was unlucky enough to have been in an empty restroom.

She leaned against the wall instead of approaching him further and Hitsugaya recognized her as a senior in his faculty. She had long, jet black hair that fell to her shoulders in messy waves, a model’s stature and a blouse too sheer.

“News travel fast,” she started. “I’m sure you know that. But news about _you_ travel even faster. Everyone and their mother heard that your pretend-girlfriend, Hinamori Momo, had a falling out. How unfortunate.”

Hitsugaya gave her a questioning stare. “Pretend?”

“Yes. Unlike most people, I know a fake relationship when I see one.”

She seemed very confident in her fake-relationships detection skills and Hitsugaya was tired of keeping up with this charade, especially with someone who has seen through their act. And he just wanted to go home.

“So?”

“So I have a proposal. Drop your little game with her and I’ll show you what you’re missing out.”

“You want me to be in a relationship with you?” Hitsugaya asked impassively. “That’s the weirdest way to ask someone to be your boyfriend.”

“It doesn’t have to be a serious relationship,” she said cryptically and ran a hand across Hitsugaya’s hair, much to his displeasure. It sent a shiver down his spine, but it was because her long nails had scraped against his scalp. “We both want the same thing and frankly, I am so much better than her.”

While she was busy combing her fingers through his hair, Hitsugaya reached down and grabbed her other hand that was trying to lift up the hem of his shirt to slide up his waist. He leaned into her and noticed that she had brown eyes like Hinamori’s, but Hinamori’s were lighter and more charming.

When his lips were at the shell of her ear, he whispered, “You’re really not.”

He released her wrist and brushed past her, adding, “Word of advice: don’t enter the men’s restroom. You might not like what you get.”

Without another word, Hitsugaya left her standing stock-still and embarrassed.

* * *

Friday night rolled by rather uneventfully to Hitsugaya’s relief and he remembered that it was the day of the seminar. He had decided to take the opportunity to apologize to Hinamori after Matsumoto gave him the idea. It was time to take responsibility for his actions.

The seminar was a big deal. Their school had collaborated with a bunch of companies to organize a career seminar-cum-corporate function annually for the students. The entire student body was to attend, although it was the final year students who really took an interest and actively networked with the employers.

Because a function followed the seminar, the school needed a venue large enough to accommodate the students and companies, as well as hold the two events. That is why they engaged one of the most renowned hotels in the district and needless to say, all attendees were required to dress formally. Hitsugaya wore a navy three piece suit, the only suit he has really, since he hardly ever needed to wear formal attire. He had worn a matching tie and a pair of black brogues. His hair was minimally styled but still neat. The teal-eyed youth heard that this was a good opportunity to start expanding your network if you wanted to secure some desirable contacts but he had other matters on his mind and he wasn’t ending the day without achieving what he set out to do.

Hinamori arrived at the InterContinental Hotel in a strapless ombre dress that ran from peach to white. Her chiffon dress reached all the way to her ankles and was met with a pair of elegant white lace heels. She had textured her short hair in loose waves and topped it off with a crystal pin that one of her dance students got for her. And she was late.

Hitsugaya was waiting restlessly in the seminar hall. They were all supposed to sit together but Hinamori was nowhere to be seen. He surveyed the room for the umpteenth time in case he missed her before.

Rukia, noticing that he was glancing around again, told him, “Don’t worry, she’s coming soon. She just texted me.”

Hitsugaya nodded in slight embarrassment and proceeded to take his seat. Just as he was about to sit, a certain brown-eyed beauty entered through the doors and Hitsugaya wondered how he could even miss her when she was the most gorgeous girl he had seen. She had him mesmerized with her flowy, ombre dress and glittering diamonds that lined along her bust.

He wanted to call out to her but Kyouraku-sensei was already at the mic, instructing the students to settle down. He saw Hinamori panic a little trying to spot them but bumped into Hisagi instead. They exchanged a few words before she followed the senior to sit with him, along with Ikkaku and Yumichika.

He sighed disappointedly but did nothing to fetch her. Kyouraku-sensei was preparing to introduce the first speaker.

“She’ll join us later,” Rukia said, showing him the text message that Hinamori sent.

Hitsugaya didn’t know which was worse, his restiveness showing and having Rukia update him or the fact that it would have been him Hinamori was texting had they not fought. As the seminar started, Hitsugaya whiled away the time by occasionally listening and sneaking glances at Hinamori.

When the seminar finally ended an hour later, everyone was making their way to the ballroom for the function, eager to taste whatever exquisite cuisines were offered this year. Hitsugaya hurriedly made his way towards Hinamori as she weaving through the crowd in the ballroom.

“Excuse me, you’re Hitsugaya right?”

A man in his late forties stepped into Hitsugaya’s view, blocking him from reaching Hinamori.

“Yes…”

“I’m Yamaguchi, I used to work with your parents…”

Hitsugaya didn’t mean to be rude, but he couldn’t care less who this man was. Shaking his hand in obligation, he glanced over the man’s shoulder but Hinamori was already regrouping with Matsumoto and Rukia. Sighing inwardly, he faced the man who was supposedly his parents’ ex-colleague and tried to keep the conversation as short as possible.

“Are you going to talk to him today?” Rukia asked Hinamori, who was enjoying an éclair.

“Yes, I’m going to try.”

“He looks busy.”

Hinamori looked in the direction Rukia nodded towards and saw Hitsugaya conversing with a smartly-dressed man. She stared at him long after Rukia looked away, admiring him in formal attire and blushing when he suddenly looked up and caught her eye.

“I’ll wait for him to be done,” Hinamori said nervously. Grabbing a plate of éclairs, Hinamori made her way towards the balcony, making sure to catch his attention before exiting.

They were on the sixth floor so there wasn’t much of a view but it’s quiet and Hinamori appreciated that. She didn’t have to wait long before she heard light footsteps behind her.

“Hey.”

“Hitsugaya-kun.”

She turned to face him and Hitsugaya lost sight of the creamy expanse of her shoulder blades.

“I wanted to talk to you,” she confessed.

“Me too,” he said and joined her at the edge of the balcony. They shared a short silence under the night sky before he continued, “About what happened…”

“I know,” Hinamori interrupted. “It’s all so unnecessary. Let’s just put it behind us okay?”

Hitsugaya was stunned how easily this was progressing. “You’re not mad?”

“I was, but there’s no point in staying mad. Besides, I said some hurtful things to you too. I’m sorry.”

“I deserved it,” Hitsugaya scoffed. “I’m sorry for saying those things to you.”

Hinamori smiled and did a little dance in her head when Hitsugaya gave her a half-smile. Happily, she picked up another éclair from her plate and popped in into her mouth.

“Éclair?” she offered, holding up a piece to him. Hitsugaya seemed like he was eyeing the sweet treat hungrily but he was really just staring at how she peeked out her tongue to lick her lips.

“…Sure.”

They enjoyed the cacophony of traffic sounds and people mingling before Hitsugaya finally spoke what was on his mind.

“You look very beautiful tonight.”

Hinamori blushed and gave him a shy smile. “Thank you, you look very handsome yourself. Where did you get the suit?”

“It was a gift from the tailor that my father used to go to.”

“Oh, it looks good on you.”

“Thanks,” Hitsugaya said. “Am I the only one who’s not interested in this whole event?”

Hinamori laughed and replied, “No, you’re not. I don’t think the employers here are very interested in first years like us. And I can’t believe I bought a dress for this.”

“Do you want to leave?”

“Are we allowed to?”

“Pretty sure it’s okay as long as we got our attendance taken. Did you get your attendance taken?”

“Yeah I did, with Kuchiki-sensei. He wasn’t very pleased that I was late though.”

“Let’s go, I’ll send you home.”

“Okay, let me tell Rukia first.”

“I’ll get a taxi. Meet you downstairs.”

Hinamori spotted the group at one of the tables and after explaining that all was good and letting them know she was leaving, said her goodbyes.

The moment she left, Ichigo asked, “She has no clue right? About why Toushirou got so mad?”

“Yeap. She has no idea it’s because Captain thought she still had a crush on Aizen and is insecure about it.”

“Why don’t we just tell her?” Renji asked.

“Remember we decided not to interfere too much? Rukia reminded. “Just let them find their own pace. They’ll get there.”

* * *

“Do you want to come inside?” Hinamori asked tentatively as Hitsugaya stood outside her door.

“Okay,” Hitsugaya tried not to sound too eager but he was already taking off his shoes and socks.

“You want anything to drink? I got this some yoghurt drinks recently,” Hinamori said, taking off the pin in her hair.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Okay, then make yourself comfortable. I’ll go change.”

In a few big strides, Hitsugaya grabbed Hinamori’s arm and turned her around. “Let me help.”

Her brown eyes widened in surprise and when Hitsugaya said nothing but just stared intently at her, she knew he wasn’t joking. Since he started the ball rolling, she wouldn’t stop the game. She smirked at him and said, “I don’t want you destroying my dress.”

“I’ll be careful,” he promised and pulled her closer to him.

They kissed slowly at first and the minute Hinamori opened her mouth, Hitsugaya released his long-suppressed urges and pushed his tongue in, kissing her senseless. He backed her up until she hit the wall and started leaving wet kisses along her neck and collarbone while Hinamori worked on taking off his jacket.

“Wait,” Hitsugaya breathed out suddenly, forcing himself to stop assaulting her neck. “I just want to make sure that you’re okay.”

When Hinamori tilted her head in confusion, he continued, “I didn’t get to say what I wanted. What I said to you that day was really insensitive and you have every right to be angry at me. I’m sorry I said those things to you, I was just—”

Hinamori covered his mouth with her hand and chided, “Hitsugaya-kun, I know. Stop blaming yourself over it, I promise I’m fine. Now, as much as I love your three piece suit and all, it’s getting in the way. So stop telling me you’re sorry, show me.”

The reconciled friends found themselves on the bed in a mess of limbs. True to his word, Hitsugaya had carefully helped Hinamori out of her dress, making sure he didn’t tear anything in his haste of getting her naked.

When the dress hit the floor, Hitsugaya complimented, “That dress looked very good on you by the way.”

“Thank you. I could say the same for you but I prefer them to join my clothes on the floor.”

Hitsugaya lost his jacket on the way to her bedroom, so Hinamori took off his vest and unbuttoned his shirt. He wasted no time in removing her strapless bra and pulling her safety shorts and panties down her legs. When he was down to only his boxers, Hitsugaya took her nipple into his mouth and sucked gently, eliciting a sharp moan from her. His hand travelled down her body and traced the curve of her thigh; she was so smooth and soft Hitsugaya was tempted to mark her.

His hand slid into her inner thigh and he touched her sex.

“You’re wet,” he stated as his teal eyes bore into her brown ones.

Hinamori only blushed and look away, but not before she whimpered, “Hurry…”

Hitsugaya smirked and kissed her mouth, skimming his lips down her body until he reached her heat. Spreading her legs, he placed soft kisses on her inner thigh, moving nearer to her wanting pussy. Deliberately, he looked at her for a full second and smiled lustfully when he saw her bite her lips in anticipation.

He brought his tongue out to lick her clit and Hinamori gasped at the sensation. Encouraged by her moans and hands in his hair, he lapped at her clit in a steady rhythm, feeling her twitch and moan with every drag of his tongue.

“Ahh…’Shirou…it feels so good.”

Hitsugaya sucked on her folds, mixing his saliva with her juices and she tasted sweeter than he could ever imagine. His tongue kept a steady pace and he occasionally glanced up at her, only to see her throwing her head into the pillow, eyes closed and mouth opened. Hinamori felt the first wave of pleasure coming and moaned sinfully.

Hearing this, Hitsugaya stopped and loomed over her with a wicked glint in his eyes. Snapping her eyes open at the sudden lack of pleasure, she grew crimson when Hitsugaya looked down upon her.

“Hitsugaya-kun, I was going to…”

“I know,” he said, fully aware that he deliberately brought her to the edge only to reel her back in. He rummaged through his clothes on the floor and fished out a condom. Tearing it open with his mouth, Hitsugaya deftly put it on and soon, Hinamori was writhing with ecstasy again.

He tried not to think about how beautiful she looked in that dress as he drove into her because it made him _smitten_. So he concentrated on her aroused face and the sweet, sweet noises she was making with her mouth. Because for some reason, he thought sleeping with his best friend was _always_ safer than the alternative.

**_Next Chapter: Took You Long Enough_ **


	16. Took You Long Enough

Hitsugaya had spent the night over at Hinamori’s after their little make-up sex despite the latter insisting that they shouldn’t because “cuddling after sex breeds emotions”. But Hitsugaya claimed that they weren’t cuddling, he was going to sleep on one side of the bed and she the other. So when Hinamori woke up with Hitsugaya’s sleeping face only a few inches away from her and his arms resting casually across her waist, you could imagine her surprise.

Instead of bounding away like she did on the first night, she pinched his nose hard.

“Ow!”

Hitsugaya wriggled his nose and rubbed it, mustering a scolding look as much as his sleepiness allowed.

“This is what happens when you don’t keep your word,” Hinamori warned.

He didn’t understand what the big deal was, they weren’t cuddling, they just happened to gravitate towards each other during their slumber. It was completely harmless. Besides, he liked waking up to see Hinamori, even though she woke him up by pinching his nose. Cutting off that dangerous thought, Hitsugaya watched lazily as she got out of bed and stretched, her thin shirt riding up to reveal her midriff.

Before she entered her bathroom, Hinamori turned to him and said, “Today’s Saturday, want to do something later?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Hitsugaya asked playfully but he didn’t expect her to blush.

“It’s not a date,” she said, trying to sound firm but her avoiding eyes gave her away.

“I would still like to do something later,” he answered.

Smiling, Hinamori nodded and got ready to shower.

 _“Still?”_ she wondered but left it as it was.

As Hitsugaya listened to the faint sound of running water, he thought how nice it would be if they tried having shower sex.

* * *

The weekend was enjoyable for Hitsugaya and Hinamori but when Monday rolled around, they braced themselves for a new assignment, something that they did not exactly look forward to.

Seireitei College had in place an exchange program where they collaborated with other schools to allow students to work with external peers. It was a stringent three-week program in which students would be randomly paired or grouped with students from the school they were collaborating with and at the end of the program, all groups would be assessed by professors from the participating colleges. It wasn’t compulsory but students who completed the course successfully would achieve extra credits.

The group decided to register for the course, thinking it would be a good experience in addition to the easy credits. But they were beginning to regret their choice when they heard that the other participating college was Hueco Mondo Academy, a school they considered a rival.

The guys had encountered the Hueco Mondo High School team in one of their ice hockey competitions. They were capable but ruthless and wouldn’t hesitate to play rough if it meant scoring a goal. Hitsugaya remembered they suffered a few bruises in that competition. Even though their school had won by a close shave, they didn’t exactly have fun during the game. They knew the players enrolled in the affiliated Academy so they were expecting to work with them for this assignment and Hitsugaya couldn’t think of worse partners to have. Maybe they should have taken internal courses and forfeited the extra credits but alas, there was no turning back after registration was confirmed.

They only hoped that the program would be completed as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Tough luck.

“Ugh, I got the weird one,” Rukia complained.

“Which one? You have to be more specific,” Ichigo said.

“Aaroniero Arruruerie,” Rukia said, making a face.

“Let’s switch,” Ichigo immediately said, remembering the time Aaroniero leered at his girlfriend, even though he didn’t know who his partner would be.

“Who did you get?”

Ichigo searched for his name in the register and traced his name to his partner’s. His eyes widened when he recognized the name.

“Okay, let’s not switch.”

“Who is it?” Rukia insisted.

Ichigo lifted up his phone to show her. “Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.”

The rest of the group cringed. Grimmjow was Ichigo’s rival in the team. They were constantly head-to-head throughout the game and even after the game, the blue-haired player challenged Ichigo to a private match.

“We’re not allowed to switch anyway,” Rukia pointed out. “Who are your partners?”

Renji got Yammy Llargo, who was the goalkeeper. Matsumoto got someone called Franceska Mila Rose and Hitsugaya was partnered with Tier Harribel, both of whom were not in the ice hockey team and well-acquainted with each other.

“Who’s Syazel Aporro Grantz?” Hinamori asked curiously as she showed them her partner’s name on the list.

“Oh, our dear Momo,” Matsumoto lamented.

“Don’t scare her,” Rukia chided.

 “Why? Is it bad?” Hinamori asked in a worried tone.

“He’s like the weirdest one so far,” Renji said unhelpfully.

“I think he’s worse than Aaaroniero,” Matsumoto added. “At least that guy’s got a split personality but Grantz, let’s just say he’s only a little less freaky than Kurotsuchi-sensei.”

“I got a Kurotsuchi-sensei twin?!”

“Well, he’s as mad about science as Kurotsuchi-sensei,” Matsumoto answered. “I have a feeling your project is gonna be about some medical shit.”

Hinamori groaned at that. She wasn’t very well-versed in the medical world. “How do you know about him?” she asked.

It was Hitsugaya who answered her. “He was sort of Hueco Mondo’s analyst. He wasn’t officially in their team nor interested in ice hockey at all but he was still good at analysing people…physiologically. That was how he found out that Kurosaki had a shoulder injury and had Grimmjow take advantage of that.”

“That weasel,” Rukia muttered under her breath. She remembered the purple bruise that spanned Ichigo’s shoulder when she forced him to take off his shirt to show her.

“He seems smart, that should be a good thing right?”

“Hinamori, don’t worry about it. He’s eccentric but he’s not as bad as Matsumoto made him out to be. You’ll do fine,” Hitsugaya comforted.

He found it ironic because he didn’t believe what he said. Syazel wasn’t just eccentric, he was lewd too and Hitsugaya was worried about Hinamori, more than he dared to admit. But he didn’t want her to get too flustered over this. Besides, he would be there to help her should she encounter any complications.

“Thanks, I hope so,” Hinamori said tentatively. “Who’s Tier Harribel?”

“I don’t know, I guess I’ll find out soon.”

* * *

The first week doesn’t go too well for them. Ichigo barely had any work done with Grimmjow because they couldn’t agree on anything and kept arguing with one another. Renji had to do most of the work himself because Yammy kept skipping meetings and even lessons. Rukia was sick and tired of dealing with Aaroniero’s indecisiveness, weird comments and lewd stares. Matsumoto found herself in a similar situation as Ichigo since she couldn’t seem to reach a consensus with Mila Rose; and they always had a problem with each other’s fashion sense.

Hitsugaya was the only one who didn’t seem to have that much of a problem working with Tier Harribel. She was a senior who did her work diligently and professionally. She was too serious, although that was something Hitsugaya could work with. They both had the same goal: to get this project over and done with as quickly and painless as possible.

Hinamori surprisingly did not have as much trouble as her friends implied. Syazel was a bit rude when they first met and she had to deal with a little creepy flirting but that was the worst it could get. He did most of the thinking and all Hinamori had to do was to tone down the eccentricity of it and add a little humanity in their project.

But that was just the first week.

By the second week, Syazel was getting bold. He stole touches here and there, which Hinamori tried hard to deflect. He liked to stare at her when he thought she wasn’t looking, or did he? Once, he even told her he was “fascinated by a dancer’s body”, something Hinamori felt was such a weird thing to say to someone. How he knew she was a dancer was unknown, although the short-haired girl thought it must be because he stalked her online. But the most disturbing thing happened when he asked about Hitsugaya.

“You’re friends with Hitsugaya Toushirou right?” Syazel asked quite abruptly.

“Yes, why?” Hinamori questioned without looking from her notebook. They were having a meeting to settle some sections for the report and she wanted to leave early because she had a lunch date with Hitsugaya.

“Are you dating him?”

Hinamori didn’t answer immediately, wondering how this was any of his business. But she figured he wouldn’t stop probing until she supplied and answer so she replied eventually. “No, we’re not dating.”

“You two must be quite bold then,” he said vaguely.

Hinamori dropped her pen and looked at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“You know, your _arrangement_. If you’re not dating him, then you two are nothing less than adventurous for pursuing such an intimate form of friendship.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hinamori denied coolly, although she was beginning to panic over how he got that information and what he will do with it. Damn it, she shouldn’t have said she wasn’t dating Hitsugaya.

“My dear, we both know that I am very resourceful so there’s no point in denying.”

She ignored him and continued writing in her notebook but her maddening blush was enough to elicit another response from him.

“Don’t be ashamed,” he sneered.

“I’m not ashamed,” Hinamori snapped and regretted it straight after.

Syazel grinned cheekily and said, “For someone like you, it surprises me. And I like feeling surprised, it means there’s so much more to discover.”

Hinamori scrunched her eyebrows in distaste at his cryptic comment. He was making her feel more uncomfortable than she had ever been with him and she really just wanted to leave.

“So I’m curious, are you adventurous enough to try something more? Like a different form of aphrodisiac.”

“Excuse me?” Hinamori said incredulously.

“You know what I mean,” he said and reached out to stroke her hair, his bony fingers lingering close to her ear.

Hinamori tensed up, seemingly fixed to the spot by his piercing gaze.

“I could dissect you, and discover all the ways I could make you—”

“Hinamori,” a gruff voice interrupted.

Just in time, Hitsugaya arrived and prevented Syazel from pursuing his unnerving advances on Hinamori. As he walked towards them, the bespectacled creep retracted his hand and smiled at Hitsugaya.

“What good timing, we were just talking about you.”

“Yeah?” Hitsugaya said, eyebrows raised. “Sure didn’t look like it.”

“Of course, we were just wondering if you are the type to share your findings with fellow peers.”

“What does that even mean?”

Hinamori glanced at them worriedly. For some reason, she didn’t want Hitsugaya to know what Syazel had asked of her. But before she could interrupt, Syazel explained himself.

“Your project findings. I hear you and Harribel are making good progress,” he lied.

Hitsugaya felt that there were more to his words than he let on but he didn’t want to waste his time.

“Hinamori, let’s go.”

She nodded and hastily packed up her belongings before leaving with Hitsugaya and not sparing a glance at her project partner.

Once they were well out of earshot, Hinamori said, “Thanks for saving me back there.”

“Does he always do that?”

“Umm,” Hinamori hesitated.

“He does, doesn’t he?” Hitsugaya stated solemnly.

“He does sometimes!” Hinamori replied nervously. “And I always stop him before he gets too far. I stepped on his foot once when he tried to touch my knee.”

When Hitsugaya doesn’t seem very convinced, she added, “Don’t worry, we only have one and half weeks left. I can take care of myself.”

True to her word, Hinamori managed to deal with Syazel’s suggestive comments and lustful stares. She put as much distance between them as possible and blatantly ignored his remarks and advances and was so skilful at repelling his attempts to touch her that she knew it was pissing him off. Sure enough, Syazel’s annoying encroachment into her personal territory lessened and just when Hinamori thought he had given up, he had gone and done the opposite.

It happened one evening after an especially boring class at Hueco Mondo Academy. Hitsugaya disliked these classes at the Academy. They had to attend classes for the program every Tuesday and Thursday and Hitsugaya considered it a waste of time. But as he left his classroom, his ears perked up at the thought of meeting Hinamori at the nearby sushi place for dinner.

Unfortunately for him, he was intercepted by a certain pink-haired student on his way out. Syazel stood at the foot of the stairs, blocking his way. It was obvious the guy had something to say to him. Hitsugaya sighed inwardly and wondered what the hell this was all about.

“Yes?”

“I keep wondering…how you manage to get an innocent girl to abandon her inhibitions and engage in platonic coitus with you,” he said without preamble.

Hitsugaya felt a vein pop in his head. He had no time and patience to deal with this bullshit.  Determining it wasn’t worth his time, he brushed past Syazel but was blocked once again.

“I tried to ask her, but my efforts were futile,” he continued casually. “I have a feeling she might actually accede if you were the one to persuade.”

His insulting remarks sent Hitsugaya’s blood boiling. “Stay the hell away from her,” he warned, his clear, green eyes sending an icy glare to Syazel’s playful, amber ones.

“Come on,” he jested, patting Hitsugaya on his shoulder. “You don’t expect to keep such an exquisite specimen all to yourself right? That’s selfish.”

Hitsugaya clenched his fists, ready to break Syazel’s jaw the moment another inane remark leaves his mouth.

“Surely you can _share_ —”

A loud crack was heard when Hitsugaya’s fist connected with his nose. Syazel stumbled backwards until he fell to the floor unceremoniously.

“What the fuck!” he sputtered, holding onto his bleeding nose. “Why the hell are you so worked up for?! She’s just someone you fuck right!”

Shaking with fury, Hitsugaya grabbed Syazel by the collar and pulled him up, slamming him against the wall as he allowed to wrath to take control.

“Touch her and your nose won’t be the only thing that’s broken,” Hitsugaya said through clenched teeth.

Releasing him suddenly, he let the injured man slide down the wall and strode away.

* * *

Dinner went by rather uneventfully. Hitsugaya tried to keep his cool and seem normal but his gloomy countenance could not escape Hinamori’s knowing eyes. When she asked him what was wrong, he brushed it off by saying it was nothing and the girl asked no further but wasn’t convinced.

That night, at Hinamori’s place, the two friends found themselves half-clothed on the bed resuming their familiar routine. Except this time, something was different.

Hitsugaya was more impatient than usual. He kissed more roughly. He bit into her skin harder than he normally did.

He pinned Hinamori’s wrists above her head and dragged his lips across her neck and shoulder, nipping at her skin and leaving angry, red marks. When she called out his name half in pleasure and half in some emotion he couldn’t quite comprehend, he looked at her with his piercing teal eyes. Hinamori looked right back at him, a trace of worry and confusion swimming in her eyes.

“Is something wrong?” she whispered meekly.

Hitsugaya didn’t answer and he felt his chest burn. Gazing at her soft expression ignited a spark within him. He wanted to protect her and he wanted her all to himself. He didn’t want to _share_.

Ignoring her question, he hid his face in her neck and breathed out, his voice barely a whisper, “You’re not just someone I fuck…”

“Shirou? I can’t hear you,” she said, the worry in her voice becoming more prominent. She freed her wrists and combed her hands through his hair, confused at his strange behaviour.

Without warning, Hitsugaya sat up and started to pick up his clothes from the floor.

“I’m sorry, I have to go,” he said while putting on his shirt.

Hinamori sat up as well and held the blanket to her chest.

“Now?” she asked disappointedly. “Shirou, what’s wrong?”

He couldn’t face her so with his back turned to her, he lied, “I’m not…feeling well.”

Without a proper goodbye, Hitsugaya saw himself out, leaving an utterly confused Hinamori. Some part of her wondered if he was finally done.

* * *

The walk back home was uncomforting. A hundred thoughts ran through Hitsugaya’s mind. What was he thinking, leaving her like that? Was it guilt? Or the anger that hadn’t dissipated when Syazel insulted her? When he thought about it, his rage was numbing. He couldn’t bear the thought of sharing her with anybody, but that wasn’t the way it worked right? They were just friends after all and he had no right.

Somehow, he couldn’t find it in himself to face her; to face her exposed body like he wanted more than just sex. It was as if his feelings go further than just carnal desire.

 _“She isn’t just someone I fuck…”_ he thought to himself.

His mind went blank before the realization finally set in.

_“I like her…I like Hinamori.”_

**To Be Continued**

**_Next Chapter: Pause_ **


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